Flames of the Heart
by streetglowsix6six
Summary: She had said it. 'You're making me nervous'. He didn't know why something that simple had such an effect on him as he tore his eyes away, seeking the answers in the flame if the candle. Axel Fanfic AxelxOC
1. Chapter 1: Ignition

my first ever fanfic! whee! 

claimer: ok, to put it bluntly, everything that was not difinitly stated in any of the KingdomHearts trilogy, **I OWN IT!** including: the132 Organization xiii members i made up, descriptions, the majority of place names and the plot. for example: i do not own the character Axel, but alas, everything that happens to him (besides the fact that he's dead) is my creation and therefore if you copy i might hurt you.

disclamer: pretty much the opposite of my claimer. if it was specifically stated in kh, khcom, or kh2, i don't own it. k? k

enjoy!

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Chapter One: Ignition

Axel opened his eyes with a start, his breathing unnaturally shallow and his body weak. He didn't have a clue where he was or how he had gotten there, for just moments ago he had been in the dark corridor fighting alongside Sora and ended up sacrificing his life to save him. There was no way possible for him to still be alive, but there he was, crumpled on the wet, hard ground in a dark alley, the only light coming from the heart shaped moon in the sky and the neon signs that adorned the buildings.

Axel desperately pulled himself up into a sitting position using support from a fire escape ladder; he peered through half open eyes at the moon and the floating fortress next to it, emitting an eerie white glow.

"Kingdom Hearts?" he whispered hoarsely. The ground rushed up to meet him as he fainted away...  
-----

The Nobody blinked sleepily as he began to stir some hours later. He was no longer in the alley he had first awoken in, but seemingly in a bed somewhere else. It was very comfy and warm and it had a pillow on which his head rested. Without any further movement his eyes surveyed his surroundings- he was in a small dimly lit room, the silhouette of a cloaked figure was visible cross from him.

The figure must have seen him stir as it rose from the chair it had occupied and moved to the bed; Axel could see it far more clearly now. The unknown wore the same type of Organization cloak as he did but that was all he could discern as the majority of its face was obscured by the hood.

"You are Axel, Odoru Hi no Kaze, are you not?" the figure asked softly, its voice slightly raspy yet feminine.

"That depends. Who wants to know?" Axel replied with a smirk.

"Shh... Save your strength. You need to rest." the other Nobody replied, reaching out to smooth his blood red hair back from his temple. Axel sighed with a tiny shrug- no one had smoothed his hair back like that for years and it was kind of nice. Still, it was kind of odd that another member of the Organization was doing it for him, another member that was sure to be male. His insides turned cold at the thought; even if it was Larxene, who was supposed to be dead, he still didn't want that bitch touching him either. His thoughts turned next to Demyx- he knew Demyx's hobbies to include fucking with his mind and playing gay jokes on him and various other members of the Organization. His gut feeling told him that Demyx would be the most likely choice.

"Demyx, I hate you so fucking much right now." Axel sighed, his hand darting out towards the Nobody's throat. "Demyx" melted away just as he lunged. "Damned water clone." he growled before rising to his feet and teleporting to the ground five stories below the window.

The plaza he found himself in was completely empty surrounded by dark buildings, the tallest of which loomed far over head; the front had two sets of stair cases leading up to doors that never opened; near the top the brightly lit jumbotrons played scenes from other realms. But at the very top stood "Demyx", still hooded, silhouetted against Kingdom Hearts in the sky behind him.

With a psychotic smile, Axel summoned his pair of chakrams to his hands and rushed Memory's Skyscraper with all his might, leaving gravity down in the plaza as he sprinted up its length.

"Did you miss me, Demyx?" said Axel, twirling his chakrams in his hands menacingly, "cause I'm about to rip you to pieces!" he hissed, green eyes ablaze as he fired off several balls of flame at the Nobody, but missed as it parried his attack away with an extraordinarily long intertwining silver and black blade.

The red haired Nobody retreated a couple of steps with a startled look, he immediately realized that the hooded unknown was definitely **not** Demyx, nor in fact, any other member of the Organization for that matter.

However, before he could utter a single word the figure charged, igniting the ground as its sword glided swiftly across it. Axel jumped just in time as it struck at his legs before unleashing a flurry of blows that he barely managed to deflect. The two battled back and forth atop the roof of the skyscraper, Axel playing the defensive until he conjured up a fistful of fire and struck the figure square in the chest, causing it to fly backwards and land in a heap some ten meters away just under the roof's ledge. In a fluid movement Axel was standing above it, prepared to shoot fire if it showed any signs of movement.

A couple moments later the figure stirred, with a tiny groan it began to rise; Axel tensed ready to strike as it looked him dead in the face- in doing so the figure's hood slipped off its head to reveal a young woman of maybe nineteen, no older than Axel himself, her long midnight black hair cascaded down to the small of her back, he tips as white as snow. She was beautiful beyond compare, her long bangs framing her angular face; her grey eyes widened as she narrowly dodged his attack with a roll which, in turn, cause Axel to trip and land right on top of her.

It was an incredibly awkward moment. Axel rose to his hands and knees- he felt his intense connection as they made eye contact, a shiver ran through him.

"Err..." the woman began. Axel blushed, realizing how provocative their position was and backing away hurriedly with a nervous smile as his fingers ran through his red hair. The other Nobody rose to her feet and gave him a satisfied look before vaulting the ledge- Axel stood immediately watching her little flight to the bottom; she landed with feline grace and threw a glance back up the skyscraper- once again he felt that strange feeling course through him.

"Amazing..." he sighed as she took off. "Wait, no... SHOWOFF!"

On impulse he teleported back to the ground and broke into a run in the direction she had went. "Hey, you! Wait!" he called as he sprinted down the narrow street, but she was gone without a trace.


	2. Chapter 2: Intro to XIII

srry it took me so long to upload this chapter. my computers being tupi. my claimers and disclaimers haven't changed so don't even try it. (meaning: Rixushin, Hymixa, Xilot, Vixid, Xenami, Leoxi, Lehixos, Xayra, Metoix, Roxanne, Sixotteplin, Xanix, and Rixen are **my **characters. got it memorized?)

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Chapter 2: Intro to XIII

Axel slowed to a walk from his frantic run, his hands in his pockets and his eyes somewhat sky ward. The Organization's stronghold loomed up ahead, suspended in midair by some unseen force. As he walked he came across a spot in the narrow street that the Organization generally referred to as the Brink of Despair, for it dipped down steeply like a paved cliff- and it was here where a circular platform drifted back and forth from Nothing's Call; although they never needed to use it was just there for some reason. Axel stepped upon it feeling too lazy to just teleport inside and watched the ground below- the rest of the city sprawled out below him in an endless mass of twinkling lights and neon signs. The sky flashed with lightning, prelude to a massive storm.

The platform stopped at the ledge of a white walkway and he got off; it felt strange to be back inside the place he had sworn he'd never return to once Roxas left. Immediately he was greeted by the person he thought had 'rescued' him- the one and only Yoru Sou no Shirabe Demyx stepped out of the darkness, a grin on his face.

"Hey Axel, you're sure looking lively," he said cheerfully. Demyx was only two years younger than him, the second youngest in the Organization, after Roxas. Axel gave him a tolerant look before pushing past him. "We've only faded away, don't be mad."

"Demyx, go away," Axel sighed starting up a flight of stairs, footsteps behind him indicated that Demyx was doing exactly the opposite of what he said.

At the top of the stairs the room broke off into three long corridors, the middle of which leading to a large brightly lit bluish black sparring field. Judging by the number of cloaked figures present, he figured everyone in the Organization was there, but there were just too many. Nineteen figures were in the room, excluding himself and Demyx, only six of which he recognized: Xaldin, Vexen, Lexaeus, Zexion, Marluxia, and Larxene. They were spaced out all over the room mingling with the thirteen strangers. Most of the extra figures were unhooded, but maybe one or two had their faces obscured by their hoods.

"Did we get new members or something?" Axel asked turning to Demyx who simply shook his head.

"Nope."

"But then who-"

"What I mean is, **we** didn't get new members. **They** did."

"But who are they?" Axel asked, becoming annoyed.

"Axel, Axel, Axel. Do you know where we are?"

"I was hoping you'd tell me."

"We're in the friggin twilight realm! Everything here is similar to how it is where we came from- they even have their own Organization!" Demyx spazzed.

"Wha-?"

"We're here cause we faded away," he smiled at Axel's confusion.

"And how exactly do you know this?" Axel sighed. Demyx had never been one for details, and it was just plain odd.

Ignoring his comment, Demyx pointed to a man with spiked strawberry blonde hair. "Okay, so that's Lehixos, he's number sevy and the one next to him," he pointed to a woman with shoulder length green hair "is Hymixa, number two. She's an alchemist. Now," Demyx continued gesturing to a pair that were sparring, one with a bow and arrow, the other with a large boomerang "those two are twins- the one with the bow is Xilot, number three, and the other is Vixid, number four. Next, you see that chick Zexy's chatting up?" He was referring to another female, this time with wavy auburn hair that fell to her waist. She was talking animatedly with Zexion, who seemed to only be paying attention to her rather large breasts, still extremely noticeable from under her cloak. "That's Roxanne, number ten."

"Roxanne the slut?" Axel suggested. Demyx frowned at him.

"You shouldn't judge anyone by appearances," he said waving a finger at him. "Okay so that's Roxanne. Then those peoples over there by Larxene and Marluxia are Metoix, Leoxi, Xanix, Xenami, and Rixen (numbers nine, six, twelve, five, and thirteen, respectively)." He pointed to each one in turn, all of them male except for Xenami, who looked a lot like Naminé. "And then there were three. The one all the way over there standing by himself in the corner with his hood on? That's Sixotteplin, but we just call him Six. He's number eleven, and the scary thing is that he's even younger than Roxas!" Six did look pretty young, his face still visible from under his loose hood. His chin length black bangs were combed over his left eye; his visible right eye seemed to be covered in a thick black coat of black eyeliner.

"Lastly, there's their Superior, Rixushin," Demyx said finally. He pointed to a man with slightly waved raven hair, gleaming a silvery blue. "He's amazing, the way he directs them all. I have to say, he's a much better leader than Xemnas, for sure." Just as the words left Demyx's mouth Rixushin rose from his sitting position on the translucent staircase across the room and seemed to glide more than walked their way.

"Axel, I had been informed that you had arrived. It's nice to finally meet you," he said in a dignified tone.

"I guess," Axel replied as Rixushin walked around him slowly. When he finally stopped in front of him again, his dark eyes lingered on his shoulder for a second before turning to Demyx.

"Did you see Xayra on your way back? I sent her out a couple of hours ago but she hasn't returned."

"I don't think so..." Demyx said slowly. Rixushin looked back to Axel, opening his mouth as though to speak, but he seemed to think better of it and closed it again. He gave him a hard look before turning and gliding back across the room, his hands behind his back.

"Xayra?" Axel said, his curiosity betraying him. Instead of answering Demyx reached out to Axel's shoulder, plucking a long black hair from his cloak.

"You're gonna die, Axy," he sighed, turning the hair over in his finger tips; there was a visible white tip of about two inches- Axel recognized it immediately from the woman he had fought on the roof; he quickly hid his surprise, snatching it back from Demyx and set it ablaze.

"Who's Xayra again? You forgot to tell me," he said innocently. Demyx gave him a knowing smile just as the room fell completely silent.

--End of Chapter 2--


	3. Chapter 3: Red Marble

Chapter 3: Red Marble

Axel looked to the center of the room to see all the members of the 'Twilight Organization' filed up, while the members from his Organization did the same, standing in front of their counterparts in rank. Axel and Demyx took their places in line, Demyx facing the blonde Metoix, Axel an empty space. Rixushin strode up and down in between the lines, behind them, stopping to pull Six's hood off his head. Six hissed at him, baring long pointed fangs that curved over his thin lips. Next he stopped in the middle of the line in front of Axel, frowning at the empty space between Lehixos and Metoix.

"Xayra!" he barked into the silence. Suddenly a pillar of darkness appeared at the head of the line and a cloaked figure emerged from the portal, walking dignified towards the Superior.

"Rixu," she said simply. Rixushin nimbly stepped to the side to let her pass to fill in the empty space; she removed her hood as she walked down the line- Axel's breath caught in his lungs watching her flip out her hair from down the inside of her cloak, simply stunned.

"As you can all see," Rixushin began, "we have once again been graced by the presence of yet another member from our sister Organization of the light realm... Axel." He was generally speaking to the members of his realm's Organization, but Axel could see Xaldin and Larxene turn their heads his way.

"Axel," they all repeated in a unified murmur.

"Okay, now that that's done, I want you all in the auditorium by no later than 11:30 tomorrow morning. We have some things to discuss. You are dismissed."

The nobodies filtered out of the arena towards the different towers of the fortress. Axel knew his way for instinct told him his living situations had remained unchanged, and indeed they hadn't. He walked alone back down the corridor he had traversed earlier with Demyx and made a left to a short staircase to another white walkway that dualed as Crooked Ascension, a lift point that took him strait upstairs, passing through walls and the like. He exited and continued along the new walkway, huge windows in the shape of the Organization's insignia.

Two doors down the hallway he stopped, pushing open the door and entering his room. The chamber was fairly large, a king-sized bed pushed against the far wall. There was a long dresser next to the door, strewn with various artifacts and several pairs of chakrams in various sizes. Clothes littered the floor and scorch marks the walls, the room itself was a burst of red and orange.

After closing and locking the door behind him, Axel breathed a sigh of relief, stripping out of his cloak and letting it fall unceremoniously to the floor. Underneath he wore a simple black shirt, his leather gloves he set on the dresser. His long pants were made out of a thin material that clung to his slender frame; his black leather boots came up to just below his knees. He kicked them off before throwing his shirt into a chair, stalking off to his bathroom, the door along the wall to his right.

The bathroom had a simple elegance just like the rest of his room, the floors were tiled with red marble instead of white like the rest of the entire castle- his favorite colors permeating this area too. Above the sink was a large mirror which currently was reflecting a sleepy looking, bare-chested Axel, taking off his pants and stepping into the shower stall, pulling the glass door closed. With a turn of the lever water poured out of the shower head, water hot enough to burn off a normal human's skin, but it felt cool and refreshing to him as it ran down his nakedness.

Ten minutes later he shut the water off and stepped out of the stall, grabbing a towel from off the rack and wrapping it around his waist. He quickly dried himself before retrieving his pants from the floor and sliding them back on over his hips. Turning off the light behind him he went back into his room, walking barefoot on the red marble, kicking his clothes out of the way.

The tired renegade flopped down onto the bed with its black sheets and comforter and pulled them over his form. It was already dark since he hadn't even turned on the lights in the first place.

As he stared at the ceiling with hands behind his head, Axel's thoughts turned to Xayra... Xayra. He hadn't even really met the girl and she was on his mind. Axel grinned, deciding he would make a point to truly meet her and apologize about earlier.

----End Chapter 3----


	4. Chapter 4: Fallen Angel

Chapter 4: Fallen Angel

Morning came far too soon. Axel was still asleep at 11:00, still sleeping at 11:15, and barely stirring at 11:20. His emerald eyes snapped open exactly at 11:22, and all was quiet. He glanced over at his clock, which read only 10:22. He sighed in relief, but, the thing was, that clock was an hour slow.

"Aww shit!" he swore loudly jumping up out of bed, trying to locate his clothes in the dim lighting. He hurriedly put on his boots and burst out of the room at 11:25, cloak, shirt, and gloves in hand. He walked double-time down the marble hallway pulling on his gloves- not until he has his shirt and unzipped cloak on did he break into a run towards the northern most tower where the auditorium was located, which would take all of five minutes to reach at a run as long as he wasn't held up.

Down the hall, make a left, down the stairs across the room, make a right then a left, down the stairs again, sprint the length of Nothing's Call, more stairs this time going up, left corridor, run down, make a right, dead end.

"Fucker!" Axel growled stopping at a balcony. He had forgotten there were no stairs here and the doors to the auditorium were **right** there. In order to get to them he would have to be down stairs, which would be a five-minute detour.

Like hell. He was late as it was.

The red haired nobody took a couple steps back to give himself running space- he ran, cleared the balcony and landed thirty feet below, breathing heavy and starting towards the great white doors. They were maybe four times his height as he came up to them and turned the handle. Locked. Turned harder. Nothing.

"Bitch!" Axel screamed, kicking the door, but to no avail, it seemed to have been sealed from the inside. "Fine, I see how it is," he said, eyes ablaze as he summoned a card out of thin air, smacking it on the door. He jumped back as it exploded, bits and pieces of the door flying everywhere.

The smoke and dust settled to reveal a large oval room with throne like chairs high along the walls. There were twenty-six in all (twice as many as back home) - six unoccupied at the moment. In every other chair sat a member of the Twilight Organization according to rank, and in between sat a member from his own. Axel saw that every eye was on him, while an extremely pissed off looking Hymixa was coming strait at him, her cloak covered in white debris like every one else who had been sitting within five seats of the explosion (everyone sitting between Marluxia and Xilot and the door were coated in ash).

"Bitch you broke my door!" she yelled at him.

"Bitch, your door had to die so I could get in. Get over it!" Axel retorted as the sound of a couple members' laughter reverberated off the walls.

"Bitch!"

"Bitch!"

"Bitch!"

"Shut up you little bitches and sit down!" Six yelled, he too covered in ash.

"Six, I will beat your face in if you don't shut it!" Hymixa screamed, silencing him.

"Hymixa, just fix the damn door and shut up." Roxanne said calmly from above them as the laughter died. The green haired one rolled her venomous eyes and pushed Axel aside, stopping to kneel in front of the ruined door. She murmured something in a strange tongue and slammed her gloved hands to the floor. Every bit of ash and debris in the room shimmered before flying at light speed to the doorframe, leaving everyone's cloak as black as ever and the doors completely repaired. Axel was sure to mouth "Bitch" at her once they took their seats directly across the room from each other, just before the raven haired Superior walked in, his midnight blue eyes surveyed the room, counting faces.

"I see you're all here," he began. "Good, good. Now for the reason I summoned you all here this morning- Kingdom Hearts is nearing its completion!" An excited murmur ran through the room at his words. "But, due to this, as predicted, the Heartless are multiplying rapidly, being so attracted to the heart of all worlds. There's both good and bad news- the Heartless have not yet crossed over to the other side and I do not expect them to do so. The bad news is that because of the outbreak, the Keyblade wielder is putting our plans at risk. He has eliminated more than half of the Organization- he must be stopped!"

Axel, who had not truly been listening (he had occupied himself by lighting each finger of his hand ablaze one at a time), looked up at the words "Keyblade wielder" and "stopped."

_Ha! As if! The Keyblade wielder can't be stopped!_

"Xemnas has requested back up assistance in case things get bad. He's assured me that he has everything under control, but be on the alert that if we are needed we will go. On that note, we will begin training today," Rixushin proclaimed. "Sparring field! Ten minutes! You're dismissed."

"Hi Axel," Demyx called cheerfully once they had left the auditorium. "We get to go spar! Whoo!"

"I see that," Axel replied.

"You don't sound too excited."

Axel rolled his eyes. "Demyx, if you want me to spar with you, why don't you just ask?" he said, annoyed as they made a left that took them to a balcony that overlooked the sparring field, there were actually stairs this time, the same transparent ones that they had seen Rixushin sitting on the night before.

"Yay!" Demyx smiled starting down them. Axel followed.

_Gay ass, I swear._

The twenty-one nobodies separated into ten pairs, each partner facing the other on the opposite sides, the Superior at the head.

"After each battle, I want you to rotate clockwise one space. The object of the game- you have ten minutes to defeat your opponent, just don't kill each other. Alternate back and forth between elemental, weaponry, and hand-to-hand combat. Begin!"

Immediately movement filled the room as the ten pairs faced off. Axel gave Demyx a slightly confused look, not sure of what to do.

"Axy! Think fast!" Demyx called, sending a wave of water at him. He held no weapon in his hand- as a matter of fact, none of them did. On instinct Axel superheated himself so that once the water made contact, it evaporated. He threw up a wall of flame that encircled the two; the floor became molten as Demyx's high-pitched screams filled his ears- he was jumping up and down shooting water at the floor to cool it off. Axel smirked darting towards him, shooting fireballs. Demyx couldn't multitask and was too slow to block as the flames hit him strait on, the battle was over before it had a chance to truly begin. The wall of fire dissipated and the floor went back to normal, Demyx nursing a third degree burn on his arm.

With eight minutes left to go, Axel looked around at the other pairs sparring- next to him was Lehixos against Roxanne in a cloud of steam, a pillar of what looked like flame erupted from the mist and Roxanne was thrown to the opposite wall, her long hair slightly damp. To his right, however was Lexaeus and surprisingly Xayra, who appeared to be completely dominating Lexaeus, her black hair billowing behind her as she ran the length of the slab of rock Lexaeus hurled at her, a hyaline quintessence emanated from her and smote him in the chest, Lexaeus fell backwards only to be tossed into the air repeatedly by the same substance rushing up out of the ground. Lexaeus landed with a loud thump face first into the ground once she had finished toying with, his face almost as red as Axel's hair as he dragged himself off to the side of the field. A triumphant smile shone on Xayra's face, a smile that truly suited her in Axel's opinion.

The ten minutes was over sooner than he thought, everyone rotated one space to the left. Demyx waved bye-bye as his place was filled by Roxanne, Axel's was taken by Lexaeus. His new opponent was to be Leoxi, who stood calm, cool, and collected in the opposite side of the field, his arms crossed in a bored manner as his long metallic gray hair gleamed down his back, reflecting his element of steel. Two silver Magnums shone in his hands to complete his silent but deadly appearance.

"Begin!"

The tell-tale whisper of a silencer hissed through the room- Axel looked up to see two bullets coming his way, he dodged them with ease so that they passed him right by.

"Ha! Nice try!" he laughed, Leoxi smiled knowingly just as pain erupted along the side of Axel's face- apparently the bullets had whirled back around and grazed him along the side of his cheek. Either way, it hurt like hell. "Cheater!" Axel growled as his chakrams filled his hands.

"I'm not a cheater. I just know how to play the game," Leoxi said coolly as the bullets whirred back into his guns with a metallic clang. He aimed strait for Axel, bullets screaming towards him in rapid-fire succession. Axel deflected them with a whir of the chakram in his left hand before slinging the other at him, the eight blades spinning dangerously. Leoxi staggered as it sliced his side, but continued to fire off more rounds as the red haired one ran strait for him, swinging his arms around his body in another attack. Axel pounced and pinned him to the ground by his neck, Leoxi fired upward, missed, and accepted defeat.

The next match was versus Vexen. Vexen, the old scientist who never really could fight- all he ever seemed to want to do is play with his experiments and drone on and on about NOTHING. Vexen, Axel's first human kill.

The battle was a no-go. Vexen actually surrendered without making a single move. Axel gave the old man a disgusted look as he leaned against the wall; his eyes fell upon Xayra once again, who was on the other side of the field near where Rixushin stood. She was engaged in a fistfight, which was thoroughly amusing but at the same time so awe inspiring. He allowed himself the pleasure of watching her for the next five minutes until they stopped- neither combatant won or lost; she and Xenami were so matched in skill that they had declared it a draw.

Second element-based battle was against Marluxia. Marluxia looked pure evil as they faced off from either sides of the field, his light brown hair flitted out around his shoulders and his hazel blue eyes filled with rage.

"You traitor, Axel!" he screamed.

"Aww, Luxi's mad. What're you gonna do? Use FLOWERPOWER?" Axel taunted. This apparently set Marluxia over the edge as he charged, blossoms swirling around him.

"Don't you **EVER** comment on my powers, you dog!" he hissed, scythe in hand- he swung it around him in a deadly whirlwind of pink, Axel leapt out of the way.

"No no, this won't do. It's called **NO WEAPONS**, dipshit," he said with a smirk.

"SHUT UP!" Marluxia cried still swinging his scythe, looking a bit like the grim reaper.

"Now, now, Marluxia, Axel's right," Rixushin said from behind them. Marluxia's weapon disappeared - he was clearly fuming as he stalked off across the room.

Another rotation to the left and Axel was face to face with Six. He drew his chakrams and waited for Six to summon his weapon, but no such action came.

"How about we make this interesting, Axel. I just can't get enough of hand to hand combat, so put those away and take me on," he suggested. Axel cautiously withdrew his weapons as his eyed Six's clawed hands apprehensively.

"Sure," he said slowly. No sooner than he did Six warped behind him with a slash of claws, ripping Axel's cloak. Axel was engulfed in the black whirlwind of Six's impossible to predict movements, receiving multiple shallow scratches all over his body.

"Six, I'm disappointed with you. I was actually expecting that to hurt more," Axel taunted once he finally succeeded in throwing the demon off him.

"Oh, I'll make it hurt," Six replied, lunging with inhuman speed as he stabbed his black talons strait _through_ Axel's shoulder- Axel gasped clutching his wound, the blood gushing out all over his hand.

"Axel, I'm disappointed with you. I was actually expecting you to be able to stand that," Six said standing over him. Without warning he pressed a palm over Axel's wound causing it to burn white-hot; once he removed it the gash was no more. He sat down next to Axel, pulling on his black bangs. "We get a ten minute break after everyone finishes."

"Yay," Axel said sarcastically. Six frowned at him.

"You're not very nice. What were you and Marluxia yelling about?" he asked. Axel gave him a strange look.

_Nosy._

"I'm not nosy, Axel- I already know. I just wanna hear it from you."

"I 'foiled' his plans to throw the Organization," Axel explained, using finger quotes.

"Haha, and how was he planning on doing that? Use flower power?"

"That's exactly what I said!" Axel laughed, glaring at Marluxia swinging around his pink scythe in a battle against Xaldin.

"Yeah, Marluxia was all bragging about how jealous you'd be once you found out he's with Larxene."

Axel raised an eyebrow looking in the direction of the blonde. "I don't give a damn about how shapy Larxene is compared to any woman I've been with, if that's what he's thinking."

"You haven't _been_ with any women, Axel," Six replied, staring off in the opposite direction. He mouthed something to someone before turning back to Axel. "Demyx wants to know if you wanna help us stalk Ray and Mimi."

"Stalk Ray and Mimi?" Axel asked confused. "Sure... but I don't know what you're-"

"Girls. Those two are the only interesting ones. Hy's just an old hag and I'm tired of Roxanne hitting on me."

"Stalk?"

"Axel!" Demyx called excitedly, rushing over to the two sitting against the wall. "Come on! They're getting away!" He pulled Axel to his feet and led him by the arm down the main corridor to Nothing's Call, Six in tow. The long walkway appeared deserted, yet to the left there were shadows making their way towards Crooked Ascension, the sound of footsteps running.

"Idiot! I can walk by myself!" Axel said angrily, yanking his arm out of Demyx's grasp. They hurriedly walked down the stairs and made a left- immediately the lift started, instead of stopping at the same hall Axel had gotten off the night before, it continued on several floors higher to a stair platform- Twilight's View. It was a brightly lit chamber room, maybe half a mile across either way, the walls hallowed out insignias that were windows to other parts of the castle. The platform was suspended in midair, the staircase winding up and around to another corridor. There were many balconies one could look over to the floor hundreds of thousands of feet below. At the sound of laughter the three looked up- overhead was Xayra and Xenami looking down at them with smiles.

"Aaaargh! Come back here!" Six called, warp jumping up to the top of the staircase. A laughing scream and there was Six balancing on top of the balcony, carrying Xayra bridge style.

"Six! Put me down!" she laughed.

"Kay," he said simply before miming dropping her to the two below.

"Don't you dare!"

"Do it! Do it! Do it!" Demyx chanted. Axel rolled his eyes.

"Fucking retards," he muttered just as Xayra screamed again.

"I'm doing it!" Six said laughing, letting go of her- Axel immediately realized that her falling through the air this time was nothing like when she jumped off memory's skyscraper- that was freefalling with style, this was just falling, which couldn't end well. He held out his arms just as she dropped into them; she was lighter than he had expected, her bangs falling into her pretty eyes as she looked up at him with a small smile. Axel felt that odd ass connection as they stayed that way for several moments, unable to take his eyes off of her.

"Ooooooo..." Xenami called, leaning over the balcony, looking completely Naminéish. That simple noise was all it took to snap him back to awareness, tearing his eyes away from Xayra as he set her down on the floor.

"We need to go back now..." Demyx said in a small voice. They all silently agreed and went back to the sparring field and prepared for their separate matches.


	5. Chapter 5: The Reason I Hate Roommates

Chapter 5: The Reason I Hate Roommates

Two hours and ten more sparring matches later Rixushin called them to a halt; everyone was all hot and tired and on the floor, some sprawled out eagle-spread while others had even abandoned their cloaks and tossed them aside. Axel himself had his cloak off but was still sitting up unlike Rixen, his last opponent, who was like a dog on the ground, his fans he bewitched to flap around him delivering gusts of air.

"Good work everyone!" said Rixushin, striding in between the rows of tired Nobodies. A tired grumble was their reply to him. "By this time tomorrow I want you back here-" an extremely angry uprising of voices cut him off. "- Okay Wednesday, gosh. Yes, 3:00 Wednesday, I want you here. I guess you can go."

Axel stood up and pulled his cloak back on before following a group of Nobodies out of the room to Nothing's Call yet again- if you wanted to get anywhere in the castle you had to pass through here, for it was the complete main floor walkway and wound all the way around the castle. If you were outside at all on the main floor you were considered to be in Nothing's Call- the other floors' walkways had names as well, but they weren't so much used.

The same went for crooked Ascension- it connected all the main walkways of each floor at one point. Axel stepped onto the lift and waited for it to start; he leaned casually against the invisible walls as a couple of other Nobodies joined him, all from his Organization- Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion.

The air in the room immediately became tense, the renegade narrowed his emerald eyes at the new arrivals- he knew it'd be best not to say anything to provoke a three on one fight.

"How long has it been, Axel?" Zexion began, sweeping his silver blue hair out of his eyes, a malicious smile on his young face. "A year, year and a half?"

"Not long enough."

"Just so you know, we haven't forgotten," he continued, taking a step forward.

_Damned lift, start already!_

"Nor will we forget, not until we have our revenge," Vexen added, also stepping forward.

"And payback's a bitch."

They continued to advance until they were not even two feet away- Lexaeus was the only one of the trio who had not yet moved from the opposite wall, a look of deep concentration on his face. Axel retained his stance and stared the two down, still wondering why the lift hadn't moved yet.

"Whatcha doin', Sexy?" a voice said from the lift entrance as Roxanne stepped upon it, her long wavy auburn hair pulled back into a ponytail. Zexion's eyebrow twitched perhaps a thousand times before he turned to face her, looking annoyed.

"I told you not to call me that in public!" he replied. Axel snickered at him.

"Lexy and Vexie aren't public." Roxanne said defiantly, obviously not seeing Axel against the wall.

"Stupid woman." Zexion growled, gesturing to Axel, who was enjoying a fit of silent laughter.

"Oooops. Hi." She waved. "Lexy, let go of the lift."

"Ma'am." Lexaeus submitted just as the lift began to move. At the fourth floor it stopped and they all got off, a startling revelation dawned on Axel- for the past year and a half he had been the sole occupant of 1st tower besides Saïx, but now that he was back among Vexen, Lexaeus, and Zexion, this was no longer true.

"Oh, how fun." He murmured to himself as he passed Vexen and Lexaeus as he walked up the slope to his own room; Zexion and Roxanne continued on past him to the room second from the top- the topmost room was Saïx's, the ceiling made of crystal and forever illuminated by Kingdom Hearts' glow.

The soft clomp sound his boots made on the marble echoed off the walls slightly as he entered his near circular room, turning on the lights that hadn't been used the night before. He locked the door and stripped out of his clothes before taking a quick shower, but froze when he heard the one sound he hoped never to hear- a MOAN.

The sound was slightly distorted and faint after having to come through a layer of marble about 2-3 meters thick, but still it was a moan no less, and probably a loud one if he could still hear it. Axel shot a disgusted and horrified look at the ceiling, making a mental note to give Zexion a piece of his mind the next time he saw him. He left the bathroom and raided his closet in search of a fresh pair of pants and shirt as well as another cloak that hadn't been killed yet. See, that was the good thing about the somewhat standard issue Organization 'uniforms'- if you gave them enough time they mended and cleaned themselves so you didn't have to get new ones, but it was nice to have spares. After dressing he deserted his room to find solstice from the unearthly sounds of Zexion and Roxanne screwing, Crooked Ascension taking him to some random floor several stories up.

The destination turned out to be one of the outdoor walkways that spanned the fortress, this one going by the name of Havoc's Divide. As its name implied it was split into two sections, each eight meters wide with a narrow gap in between them of maybe twelve feet. The outer section was maybe five miles in length and led to 9th tower, its inner counterpart only four miles and was a path to 7th. Neither walkway was truly connected to the main fortress like Nothing's Call was, but floated a couple hundred meters away. Every two thousand feet a ten-foot wide stretch connected the two platforms as well as a spiral staircase that connected them to either Naught's Skyway (below) or Nothing's Approach (above). In all, yes, you could get lost in this damned castle and yes, it paid to know where the hell you're going and how to teleport there. Oh, but of course, there were some places you just couldn't teleport to, including: Proof of Existence, the Auditorium, 13th tower, Addled Impasse, as well as quite a few other areas. In that case you had to use those damned walkways and you had better hope you didn't need to get there in a hurry.

With a tiny sigh Axel set off, taking the inner path towards seventh tower, which Demyx inhabited. He walked at a brisk pace and within twenty minutes he reached it at the point where it connected to Proof of Existence via a long marble bridge. The door to the inside of the tower opened with a zip noise as he approached, revealing a darkened corridor inside. Axel entered to see Xanix, his short orange spiked hair shaking as he danced spastically, a mini disk player in his hand and headphones his ears. Axel walked past him with a strange look on his face and continued up the sloped walkway hearing catches of a very fast paced punk rock song as he passed one of the rooms. He stopped at the third door he came to, the marble showing traces of Demyx's drawing… things, and raised his hand to knock, only to be tackled by a very hyper blonde bursting out of the room.

"I knew you'd come to see me soon!" the teenager said cheerfully having grabbed Axel about the waist and continued on to rub catlike against him. Axel was taken aback, too startled and disturbed to push him away, the look on his face reminiscent of one who had just stepped on something abnormal and was barefoot. "Did you miss me?" Demyx stopped shortly to look up at him, their faces close, Demyx looking like the most innocent thing in the world, aqua eyes big and glittery. It was hard to say no to.

"No." He had to be mean.

"Aww, I love you too."

"What are you _**doing**_?" Axel turned his head to face the source of the voice: Xenami, carrying a pile of cloaks in her arms, a grin on her face. He felt his mind go blank.

"Uih-"

"I'm playing with Axel." The male blonde responded cutely, resuming rubbing against him.

"Aww!" She squealed. "Hold him there until I get back!" she said quickly walking past them. Axel watched her go, a feeling of dread growing over him.

_What are they going to _do _to me!_

He had to get away before the creepy yaoi fangirl Naminé look-alike came back.

Else where…

"What in the friggin hell do you mean "He's there'!" Rixushin yelled from across the room, pacing back and forth the length of the auditorium. In the center of the oval stood Xemnas, or at least a hologram of him; Xayra sat quietly on her high throne/chair thing, one leg crossed high over the other, looking bored. She watched Rixu converse angrily back and forth with the hologram- he had insisted she'd be present for each one of his meetings with Xemnas; despite her low rank at number eight she was still second in command and couldn't get out of these things.

"He's here, Rixushin. Xigbar's preparing to exterminate our pest as we speak." Xemnas replied.

"Do it faster! I swear, if it had been me the boy would have never made it through the front door."

"Yes, your little assault squad is efficient enough, but that doesn't mean it would have helped any."

"What's that supposed to mean!"

"Well, I don't know. Why don't you figure it out?" Xemnas smirked, dissipating just as a very large broadsword was flung through the hologram, embedding itself in the far wall.

"AAARGH! He pisses me off!" Rixushin roared as he went to retrieve his weapon, yanking it out of the marble.

"You look like you could use a little drinky," Xayra suggested, descending to the floor. "We could get some sake, or maybe just a nice **nap**."

"We… does that mean you'll be joining me for that nap?" Rixushin asked hopefully. "You know how I get when I have sake. Besides, you owe me from last time."

"Or not." Xayra sighed. "I have better things to do with my time."

"Besides me?"

"You gave each of us a mission. I have yet to even begin mine now that the opportunity has presented itself."

"Oh, it seems to have slipped my mind. Please enlighten me, my dear."

"Axel."

Rixu raised an eyebrow. "When was this?"

"Maybe about a year and a half ago."

"Why do you still remember that?"

"Same reason you should."

"I shouldn't be held accountable for what I might have said when I was drunk."

"You were not drunk."

The superior sighed. "Fine. But you can't deny me forever, you know." Xayra shrugged her shoulders teleporting away in a wisp of darkness.

Back in 7th tower…

"Gerroffme!" Axel mumbled struggling to push Demyx off as Xenami snapped pictures.

"Now move in for the kiss!" she directed, Demyx doing just that. Axel's eyes widened in a more frantic squirming, turning his face away. Damn, that blonde had a strong grip.

"What are you guys _**doing**_!" Axel's eyes lighted upon Six who looked a cross between thoroughly disgusted and amused. Six would be his savior.

"Help me!" Axel gasped, eyes pleading.

The demon looked to be contemplating something by the look that appeared on his face. "You called me short."

"When! Where was I?"

"You were thinking it. Don't lie."

"That's cause you are! Don't just stand there! Help me!"

"… I think Xayra should see this."

"Nooooo!"

"Do I really look like I'm that mean?" Axel, Demyx, and Xenami all stopped, nodding their heads in reply.

Six smiled. "Kay." He said, walking up to Axel and Demyx and pulled Demyx's arms from around Axel's waist, freeing him. Axel looked beyond relieved.

"I thought I was going to be eaten…"

"I don't eat meat." Demyx pointed out. Axel's face fell, his mind recognizing the double meaning in his words, his expression completely unreadable and stoic.

"Go somewhere…"


	6. Chapter 6: Alarm Cocks

Chapter 6: Alarm Cocks

Wednesday came dawning in the usual darkness of the Sonzaishinakatta Sekai; Axel glanced at the clock to the right of his bed: 3:19.

"It's friggin four o' clock in the morning…" he murmured noncommittally to himself, the last day had been uneventful compared to his first, the only highlight a simple glimpse of Xayra yet only for a couple seconds before she had disappeared. Other than that nothing happened, he went to bed early and was paying the price- waking up at four with nothing to do until three.

A peal of sound broke the silence as the alarm went off, Axel lunged and ripped the cord out of the wall and tossed the clock across the room where it fell silent… a moment later it started up again before meeting its end under his flaming foot; the smoldering ruins of plastic and glass in a heap next to the door, Axel sighing.

"I need a new clock now…"

Now completely awake he donned a shirt before leaving the room, barefoot, cloakless, and sleepy looking. In a flash of fire he disappeared only to reappear in 7th tower out side of a door that would be identical to his if only it hadn't been drawn upon. He pounded upon it several times with his fist before it opened; a yawning Demyx met him, scratching his forehead.

"Yes dear?" he said sleepily. Axel cocked an eyebrow before replying.

"Gimme your clock."

"Umm, okay…" Demyx said, his fingers undoing his pants. Why must everyone go commando?

"Nooooo! I said CLOCK **not** COCK!" Axel whined, shielding his eyes.

"I'm just messin' wit cha." Demyx teased, fixing his pants with a coy grin. "Why do you need my clock?"

_I'm scarred for life._

"Bitch, don't grin at me like that. Just go get the damn thing. I know you have extras."

"Fine." Demyx replied retreating back into the room and reappearing a minute or so later  
with a black alarm clock in hand, identical to the one Axel had just destroyed.

"Thank you." He said sarcastically teleporting back to his own hallway outside his own room; he reentered and shut the door and plugged in his new clock- this one actually read the right time of 4:35.

Sighing contentedly he settled down back in his bed and blankets and went back to sleep.  
Later Wednesday…

"I heard you and Demyx had a special little rendezvous this morning," Six said from across the table as Axel was stuffing his face with rice during breakfast. Xenami giggled.

"Did not." Axel replied, his mouth half full as he set down his empty bowl and reached for another, devouring it.

"He mentioned you wanted his alarm cock," the demon pressed on, Axel glared at him from over the rim of the bowl.

"For the last time I said 'CLOCK' not 'COCK'."

"Whatever…" Six replied just as Demyx sat down next to Axel, kind of close.

"Good morning," he said, beaming at them. Axel averted his eyes, slouching away a couple  
of inches; he completely stopped eating when the blonde-brunette placed a hand on his thigh. "How are you?"

"You wanna lose that hand?" Axel growled, Demyx withdrew his hand just as the spot it had previously occupied became a pit of fire, he laughed nervously.

"Any who, how are you guys this morning?" he smiled, turning his attention to the other two.

"Fine."

"Fine, thank you."

"Go get me more food." Axel demanded, handing him the empty bowl. Demyx rose, bowl in hand, saluted him and hurried off.

"I think he likes you." Xenami teased.

"Oh hell no."

"Ohayou." The voice rushed over him like water just as the speaker filled the place Demyx had previously occupied, her thigh brushing gently against his own as she did so. Axel blushed, looking for something to occupy his hands as he determinedly stared off in the opposite direction.

"Morning Xayra." Six and Xenami said in unison as clinks upon glass signaled several rice bowls being set upon it. His curiosity betraying all other sense, he took a glance from the corner of his eye - her hand moved upwards to tuck a lock of black hair behind an ear before passing over a dark blemish near the corner of her mouth... He stared, transfixed, barely aware of his fingers scratching away at the tabletop... Quite lovely, actually...

"Did you have fun with Demyx this morning?" her voice said casually, making him jump - Axel froze midway through his ministrations to the table; he knew that if he were to look any farther up from those lips that had curved into a smile, he'd be gazing into those pale eyes...

_So she knows,_ he thought before shooting an angry towards the other two who were surveying the scene in silent amusement. He withdrew his hand and stuck it in his pocket, knowing it wouldn't do a bit of good in this situation.

"Hey! That was my seat!" Demyx whined from behind them, so laden down with rice bowls he was on the verge of dropping one of them.

"No one cares about your past, Demyx." Xayra pointed out, smile becoming more of an evil grin. Demyx sighed dejectedly as he set the blue bowls down in front of Axel before taking a seat on the other side of Six.

"Aww, isn't that sweet?"

"SHADDUP!" Axel said angrily before stalking off in the direction of the 'Observation Deck' over looking a sea of lights (he did take his rice bowls with him though).

_You ask for one alarm clock and get all this drama… _

Three hours passed until it was 1:00, the red haired Nobody long since having burned his hashi and consumed every grain of rice to be found in the four or so bowls Demyx had brought him, enduring weak taunts from the demon child and his lover while gay boy flitted about… Axel was still on the Observation Deck staring ominously into the distance, awaiting 3:00's arrival. A scene played out below him some 100 feet away, Marluxia and Larxene against the glass, wrapped so closely around each other it was hard to tell whose hands were whose. Normally Axel would have turned away in complete disgust, it being Marluxia and all, yet Larxene was holding his attention… anytime before the Castle Oblivion event he would have loved to be in Marluxia's place, but now, no.

Or did he?

He didn't know what compelled him to do it, but he did- a pillar of flames erupted between the two lovers and threw them backwards away from each other; a jolt of fear coursed through him as the blonde's sky blue eyes locked onto his face above the balcony, strong enough that anyone else with low bladder control would have pissed themselves.

_Oh hell_

He bolted starting down the corridor, just as he rounded a corner two kunai weapons embedded themselves in the wall, cackling with hot blue electricity. Running as fast as he could he took every turn possible in attempts to lose the enraged woman, avoiding lightning strikes and flying kunai; the winding maze took him to Hall of Empty Melodies where he darted past Leoxi and ran head on into Rixushin, barely two feet from Xayra.

"I'm going to kill your punk ass!" came Larxene's unearthly yowl.

_Where to go, where to go? Ah balcony._

Over the balcony, clear the length of the room, _HOLY FUCK IT'S MARLUXIA!_ Turn around, narrowly avoid flying pink scythe, sprint back across the room, opposite corridor, out side…

_Oh shit I'm trapped._

The two lovers were closing in from either side of him, leaving him no escape route. Six kunai blades in between Larxene's nimble fingers, Marluxia shouldered his scythe- they both wore malicious grins, eyes ablaze.

"So this is how it ends, eh?" Axel said, looking from one Nobody to the other; Marl swung his scythe, inches from cleaving him in half.

"Shut up." Larxene spat, preparing to strike. "Get ready to die"

"Oh yes, revenge comes sooner than I thought Marluxia added. Suddenly Axel was struck with inspiration as his life played out behind his eyes.

"Or not," he said, throwing himself off the side of the fortress, feeling as light as air as he free falled.

"Nooooo!" came Marluxia's anguished howl from above.

_This is insane!_ Axel thought giddily, the wind whipping through his hair, making his eyes water. A minute passed before he was faced with a terrible decision: he couldn't continue to fall like this for much longer as soon there'd be no more fortress to land on, even still, the platforms he had yet to pass rose up sharply to meet him, which he barely avoided- at this rate he'd most certainly be killed if he didn't do anything soon. Fire exploded from his hands which he directed towards the floor, it slowed his descent abruptly until he was barley five feet off the ground- he landed lightly in front of Roxanne whose eyes were all big and astonished looking.

"It's raining men!" she gasped excitedly. Axel straitened up, his limbs shaking just slightly as he walked past her and made his ascent up 1st tower.

"Never again…" he muttered as he entered his room, completely adventured out for the day.


	7. Chapter 7: Warning About Marble

Chapter Seven: Warning about Stone

After a shower and a short nap it was 2:30 and he left his room, skirting Lexaeus and Vexen in the hall and taking Crooked Ascension downstairs. There were a few people inside the arena already: he saw the twins- Xilot was learning how to fly… Xaldin was nearby as well, perfecting his spear tornado, his long black ponytail billowing in the self generated wind. Xilot's flight lesson was interrupted as he was smote in the back by a large orangey claymore, he went off course towards Xaldin's spears… the blonde bishounen would have been diced to bits had Xaldin not reacted just in time, a frantic looking Xanix rushing over in a chorus of 'Gomenasai' and retrieved his weapon. What a start to sparring practice. By the time 3:00 came everyone had filed in to the arena, the last of which was Rixushin.

"I want you all to pair up and space yourselves evenly on opposite sides of the field. Today you will engage in only one match. Your objective is to defeat your opponent with whatever skills, strategies, or techniques you have. Time is out of the question; the match does not end until either opponent falls. Choose your opponent wisely and don't kill each other," he said in a stressed and pained monotone. The other Nobodies did as he commanded; out of the corner of his eye Axel glimpsed Xigbar, who he was sure had not been there the night before.

He didn't have much of a chance to choose an opponent from the crowd until someone chose him; the green haired alchemist sought him out and demanded his acceptance to fight- she probably would have punched him in the face otherwise. At Rixushin's barked order eleven separate matches began, Axel summoned his chakrams and advanced across the field; without warning he was thrown into the air, a mass of marble spikes the culprit. He growled and lunged at Hymixa who looked ever so vulnerable, no weapons and a hand pushed firmly to the ground. He couldn't have been more wrong. A screech and his chakrams skidded off a marble wall materialized out of thin air, sparks flying.

_This is gonna be impossible._

Hymixa vaulted the wall and landed just behind him swinging her weapon around her body, a vibration shook Axel's arm as he deflected her attack with his left fire wheel. Before he could counterattack she spun out of reach, finishing with several back handsprings.

_Show off,_ Axel thought, but unbeknownst to him, every contact of her hands with the ground resulted in the creation of a fifty-foot pillar of marble, thick enough for a single person to stand upon. There were five now.

Axel disregarded the pillars and struck at her this time with fire, the alchemist was hit but merely somersaulted through the air over his head; she landed with the creation of another pillar and struck back at him. It continued on lie this for a while, the forest of pillars having grown so thick and so randomly placed in their little section of sparring area that he could not run strait in any direction for too long before having to turn. Half the time he couldn't even locate the alchemist and he couldn't throw his chakrams if he couldn't see her. In all, pretty soon he began to hate Hymixa's fighting style and everything about it; the way she danced circles around him while spinning circles hurt his eyes and made him dizzy. The maze of pillars wasn't helping any either- yeah, sure, he could back her into a corner and just beat the shit out of her… but that was a matter of how long he could keep her there. At the same time when he couldn't locate her, stone spikes always seemed to find him; after a particularly dangerous series he caught a glimpse of green above him and finally understood;

_I'm a dumbass._

Bracing himself he scrambled up the nearest pillar, at the top he saw Hymixa using each individual pillar as a stepping stone- she didn't see the burst of flame before it hit her head on. She fell off her pillar just before they all shimmered away; Axel landed lightly meters away from her silent form on the ground.

Around him maybe three battles still raged, it was obvious who had won and who had lost of those that were finished. There was a strange scrap of metal on metal nearby; he was surprised to see Rixushin sitting cross-legged on the ground, an enormous zanbatou in his lap. At first it appeared to be a large broadsword about a foot wide, as long as Axel was tall, yet in place of a hilt a pole of almost three feet. He had never seen anything like it before and it was magnificent, gleaming silver as sparks flew off of it as Rixushin ran a slipstone over the blade.

Once every match was decided the Superior stood, shouldering his zanbatou. "I want the winners of today to come back tomorrow, 1:00; everyone else, I don't care, just don't interfere. Dismissed."

---

Xayra ran through the darkened corridors after Rixu, a beam of moonlight illuminating the way every twenty or so feet. His darkness scent was waxing stronger with every passing moment, so overpowering that all other normal senses were near obliterated besides that one.

"I can't do this much longer, Xayra," she heard him whisper once he finally came to a stop. "We might need to dispatch sooner than I thought."

"…What would you like me to do?"

"Prepare. Nothing else matters to me besides Kingdom Hearts, and if it is taken in the light realm then we lose it here too. That cannot be allowed to happen."

"For now?"

"I cannot afford to send you yet. Three Organization members remain, and I know that if Xemnas keeps this up much longer we'll fail."

"Sora?"

"That boy is an annoyance. The majority, ten members, have fallen at his hands. Luxord and Saïx will soon follow."

"Three were not his doing. Lexaeus met his end at the hands of Riku. Vexen and Zexion-"

"Yes?"

"Were killed by Axel."

"Interesting. Assassin and double-agent. Will he aid us? Is he strong?"

"I am not sure. He is a rebel, that one. You want him to take down Xemnas?"

"Perhaps. I'm sure he'd like revenge against Sora too, eliminating him and all."

"Another exception, sir. Death by kamikaze."

"That sick freak. Yes, he'll accompany you. Now go, my faithful queen, and bring me back your findings."

"Done."


	8. Chapter 8: A Match Made in Between

Chapter Eight: A Match Made in Between

"My ears are _still_ ringing," Axel said as he sat on the stairs leading up to Memory's Skyscraper. A couple of steps below his to the right was Demyx, Six was lounging on a handrail, Xenami cross legged on a ledge, and Xayra leaning against those lit up double doors, sketch-pad in hand. It was 5:30 Saturday, two days after Axel had fought and defeated Metoix in a second match. For once there was no rain, yet the skies overhead threatened a downpour. At 6:00 he was due for another match… versus either Xayra or Rixushin himself.

Demyx giggled. "I don't know why you didn't just throw the battle like Six did for Mimi."

"Sixie didn't _throw_ the battle. He plain old **LOST** the battle." Xenami called from above.

"Well, I'm not a wimp like you," Axel sighed glancing over his shoulder at Xayra. She had been pretty quiet the past couple of days; Demyx had assured him that she was just shy. He rose to his feet, striding away. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

"Bai Axel!" Demyx called.

The red-haired renegade returned to his room before continuing on towards Hall of Empty Melodies. He figured he'd better leave soon if he wanted to get there on time, for it was not one of the most accessible areas of the castle. From 1st he took Crooked Ascension to Twilight's View and traversed to seemingly endless stairs towards his destination, empty like its name… well, for the moment. Within five minutes it burst into half-life, full of Nobodies gathered on the upper balcony.

"You ready for me, Axel?"

Emerald eyes fell upon his opponent who stood sword less, sweeping her long black hair up into a messy bun, held in place by two chopsticks, one black, the other white. Stray strands of hair still played about her face, she smirked at him.

"Time to finish what I started," Axel breathed as the familiar lightweight of his chakrams filled his outstretched hands; long fingers gripped them like something coveted. In a burst of fire he closed the distance between them, he slashed at her aiming for the crook of her neck. Faster than lighting she danced just out of range; just as fast the fists began flying- she hit hard enough to leave bruises. Not one to abandon his weapons, he slung the one in his right hand with expert ease following up with a ring of fire and his other wheel. Xayra took advantage of his seemingly temporary openness, managing to get in another blow; she was right where he wanted her- Axel grabbed her arm, using her remaining momentum to fling her up in the air hurtling towards the wall. With catlike reflexes she righted herself, meeting the wall in a crouching pose; she tasted cold steel as her odachi materialized between her teeth. She pounced moving so fast she near disappeared from Axel's view and seemed to materialized out of thing air and landed on his chest, forcing him to the ground where he skidded a few feet- he wasn't staying down there though. Fire grazed across the marble like spilled liquid, yet the marble was now lava; he was kind enough not to change the small space she occupied… yet.

"Feel the burn?" he smirked, the fifteen foot wall of fire closing in on the two. He eyed the perspiration that shone on her brow before it was wiped away with a gloved hand.

"A fire wall… how clever," she smirked deviously running at him at an astonishing rate. Axel raised a slender catlike eyebrow in surprise, not flinching.

"… How are you **doing** that?" he asked, confused. He was hell, he was allowed to do that, there was no way she could be standing that… unless she wasn't. A moment of realization and he recognized the technique of hovering just slightly over the ground, and remembered Rixushin who used it whenever he moved. "Oh, I get it. You know, you're smart."

Axel crossed his fire wheels in front of his body to parry her blade in a shower of sparks, the contact jarring his arms with the force of a two-handed blow. _Holy shit she's strong!_ he thought as he struggled to force her off, sharp steel inches from his face. Finally he managed with a great heave as he regained feeling in his arm, but Xayra was still too fast for him- she played her sword around in a circle like it was an extension of her arm and struck at his ribs, hailing him with the flat side of her sword and driving the wind out of his lungs. He froze as the icy tip swept up to his jawbone with lightning speed.

"Dead."

Axel shrugged off the sword, his firewall disappeared and the marble regained its cool, hard defaultness. A couple of the Nobodies that had taken residence upon the balcony cheered, yet the applause was scattered pathetically.

"Go Axel!" he heard Demyx's voice.

_But I lost though…_

There was no time for self-pity as something very sharp whizzed its way through the air and embedded itself in the marble floor between them. Axel jumped back, Xayra doing the same as Rixushin materialized out of thin air next to his zanbatou and pulled it out of the ground with effortless ease, considering the deep impression the blade had made on impact and how it was still a couple inches taller than him. Axel felt himself being pushed back rather forcefully by a large force field; when it stopped expanding it glowed momentarily before rendering itself invisible. The two inside exchanged a few inaudible words before the Superior turned away from Xayra and took a couple gliding steps before lashing out with an unexpected ferocity in form of a one-handed attack. The red-haired one, now leaning against the invisible force field, was taken aback- Rixushin didn't at first appear to be strong enough to wield that blade, least of all single handedly with such speed; Axel was forced to conclude that the Superior was a man of incredible skill. For a moment he feared for Xayra, not hearing the clang of metal upon metal, instead it was metal striking upon something different. The zanbatou had been stopped in thin air about half a foot from Xayra's outstretched left hand, a solid thump resounding. There was a look of strain upon both face before a flash of movement and the deafening clashes of metal upon metal like hail raining upon steel. Their movements accelerated up to a blurring speed in their dance, as much airborne as on the ground, until they were thrown apart by their momentum and joined up again, their weapons disappeared. A sharp crackling sound as black lighting whizzed through the air followed up by Xayra's scream as she was thrown out of the air and met ground, Rixushin's zanbatou following her with the same speed as his lightning-like darkness. It seemed to hover there tip down a few inches above her form before losing momentum and tipping towards the ground; its owner warped in time to catch it before it made impact, zanbatou disappearing as he knelt beside his motionless second in command. Axel didn't realize it, but the barrier blocking him had long since disappeared- he nearly fell on his face from leaning upon it so much.

"Number Twenty-one!" Rixushin barked, not looking up. Axel was confused, not really sure who the Superior was referring to, for he was Number Eight in the light realm... but here it was different. He looked up at the others who were all staring at him, before stepping forward.

"Superior."

"Take her to her room," the raven haired man commanded, straitening as Axel approached. "Tomorrow I want you to report to Proof of Existence at 6:00 AM. Be prepared to leave," he added in an undertone.

He was half about to ask either a "where" or "why" but thought better of it as he knelt down and picked her up, positioning her carefully upon his back so he could carry her unconscious form more easily. A glance up at Demyx who was motioning a 'five' told him where to go.

5th tower was on the north western wing of the castle and as far as he knew, completely deserted. It housed only one room at the very top, a spiral black staircase leading up to a balcony outside of it. The ceiling was of crystal just like the other towers, but wasn't illuminated as brightly for it stood in the main fortress's shadow, blocking Kingdom Hearts' glow. Yet, as he had heard, if you stood on the very top, off in the distance one could see the far off beach and the fleeting glimpse of interrealm sunset... but this was all just a rumor, for back in the light realm it was a restricted area of the castle. He only knew so much about it from times of exploring the castle with Roxas.

The tower was farther than he expected it to be walking distance from Hall of Empty Melodies; hindsight told him it probably would have been better to have just teleported there for it wouldn't have taken so long. Axel finally stopped in front of a marble door at the top of the tower; he tried the handle to find it locked. Carefully setting the unconscious Xayra down, he surreptitiously slipped his hand into one of the pockets of her cloak, feeling around until he extracted a key ring very much like his own, a delicate silver key dangling from it. Sticking the key in the lock, he pushed the door open to reveal a darkened room which he entered after repicking her up. To be made of crystal the ceiling seemed as opaque as though it was merely marble, but soft moonlight filtering through an open door on the far side of the room suggested otherwise. The room itself was far neater than his own, empty aside from a few pieces of furniture. He couldn't discern much else in the darkness and decided it would be best to just set her on her bed and leave before something bad happened... and prepare for the following morning.


	9. Chapter 9: Misson, the 1st

Chapter Nine: Mission, the 1st

You couldn't call it bright, but it damn sure was early as Axel strode into Proof of Existence the next morning, eyes tired and yawning. At the top of the slanted room stood the Superior and another figure he determined to be Leoxi, judging by the long grey hair cascading down the back turned his way. Axel continued forward to join them, standing silently in wait, an act completely against his nature.

"Is Xayra all right, Superior?" Leoxi began, eyes lighting upon Axel. "I thought you said she was coming with." Axel turned to Rixushin who was facing the opposite way in direction of the many portals in the room, confused.

_She's coming with us after what happened last night? And where are we going?_

"She's coming," the Superior replied just as the one they were speaking of appeared out of the nearest portal.

"Speak of the devil."

She looked tired, but it was Xayra all right, tucking a lock of her ebony hair behind her ear. Axel knew he damn sure wouldn't be able to get up this early in the morning after being knocked out the night before, but she was doing it.

"Now that the three of you are here, I have a mission for you. I need news from the light realm. You will go to Twilight Town and attend a meeting."

"A meeting?" Axel asked, incredulous. It just seemed too ridiculous. Meetings were for important people to sit down and talk… he had to be joking.

"Yes, Axel," Rixushin nodded. "A meeting. I have reports from the Dusks stationed there that Twilight Town is hosting a conference, in which every world is sending representatives. Incidently, we're the topic of discussion."

"The Organization?"

"Well, it's really concerning Nobodies in general… so of course they'll be talking about the Organization. I wouldn't be surprised if that's all they talk about. Xemnas has done such a good job making us notorious. We get our own conference. Yay." It seemed strange hearing Rixushin be sarcastic, for he was normally very formal; the bitterness of his tone was icy and even hateful, the silence ensuing dramatic. Xayra was the one who broke it.

"So you want us to go… but not as members of the Organization… you want us to spy?" she asked slowly. Axel watched as the two exchanged looks, almost as though they were having their own silent conversation, which he and Leoxi were excluded from.

"Exactly. You know what to do." And with that, the three were left alone in the room.

"I don't get it." Axel said pointedly, looking from Nobody to Nobody. In truth, he had his own ideas of what was going on, but he was going to keep that to himself. There was an audible and collective sigh between the other two before they walked off, leaving him where he stood. "Hey! Wait for me!"

The Sonzaishinakatta Sekai was as dark as always, the storm the sky was promising the night before still hadn't yet broke. The air was humid and as taught as a bowstring, but was still oddly temperature-less. Axel followed silently behind Leoxi as Xayra was up a couple paces ahead, not a word spoken between the three. Another act completely against his nature.

"So where are we going? Can't we just open up a corridor and be there by now?" His question was left ignored as they turned down another dark street. "I don't get why we have to-"

Before he knew it he was at gunpoint, the barrel of one of Leoxi's guns aimed strait at him.

"W-what are you doing, Leoxi!" Axel half gasped throwing his hands in the air as his emerald eyes widened.

Five shots were fired, Axel screaming in shock.

"Shut up! I didn't hit you!"

The red-haired bishounen quieted, grabbing for every inch of his body he could to make sure he was intact. Once satisfied he ran his ringers through his hair with a smirk. "I'm cool, I'm cool."

Leoxi rolled his eyes walking back past Axel. Ten feet behind them lay two lesser Nobodies, a Dusk and a Dancer, fading rapidly back into darkness.

"False alarm."

"Leoxi, you cannot just be shooting Dusks out of the sky like that!" Xayra said exasperatedly, looking back at them. "We need them!"

"I thought it was that damned kid following us again."

"You cannot shoot Six out of the sky either. Poor kid is going to end up getting a complex if you keep shooting him like that."

"Well he doesn't die, what's the problem? I need target practice."

"We are going to be late if you keep holding us up with your idle chatter." And so the march continued.

"I don't see why Rixushin doesn't just let us go to some backwater world and pick off the humans there."

"Because that is the Heartless' job. Now hush."

Axel shook his head. Xemnas would never let them kill humans. Hell, for the longest they hadn't even made contact with them. He himself hadn't taken a human's life since he first was initiated to the Organization, and here Leoxi was talking about using them as target practice. Axel would never dream of killing for sport… unless they really annoyed him. Then it was different.

After maybe twenty more minutes of walking they stopped in a narrow alleyway. Behind them the fortress was partially blocked on account of all the buildings separating them, but due to its massive size it seemed like they hadn't walked far at all, though they had traversed at least five miles. The other end of the alley in which they stood was blocked by a chain-link fence, an empty lot just behind. The object of their current attention was the door that stood idly in the middle of the walkway, unsupported by walls of any kind. Xayra stepped forward and turned the handle as it swung open.

"You. Go through," she said pointing first to Axel and then to the open doorway. Axel frowned looking first from the empty lot through the doorway to Leoxi and Xayra standing behind him.

"You guys aren't gonna just push me through here to some alternate parallel universe and shut the door so I can't come back, are you?" he asked shiftily. Leoxi seemed like the type of person to do that to someone; Xayra, he couldn't be sure about. He looked down at her as a soft breeze blew; she was quite comely as a beam of silver moonlight illuminated her face.

She smiled. "Maybe." He felt her hand on the small of his back giving him a playful shove, though forceful enough to force him through.

It was like he hadn't even gone anywhere- he found himself in the same alleyway, though when he saw the empty lot, it wasn't empty, a small building partially filling it. The doorway was also gone, and he was completely alone for the moment. Suddenly Leoxi who faded in at the exact spot Axel had just occupied, followed almost immediately by Xayra, joined him.

"Did we go anywhere?" Axel asked, not seeing the whole point of walking five miles just to go through a doorway to the exact same place. Once more his question was ignored as a dark portal appeared and they all stepped through into the realm of nothingness linking them to Twilight Town.

They appeared in what seemed like one of the more deserted districts of the enormous city-town, the narrow houses spaced close ad alleys aplenty. Immediately the hoods were on as they walked briskly, keeping to the shadows until they were in the heart of the district. It was an eerie quiet for this to be Twilight Town, silent until Xayra decided it was time to break in a window of a decrepit old house. Inside it was slightly musty and dirty, dust collecting on absolutely everything, shards of glass littering the floor just inside the wall. Axel was careful not to tread on them or cut himself as he stepped through the broken window, Xayra having directed them inside.

"Take off your cloaks and leave them here," she murmured, undoing the long zip of her own. "We will stop at that clothing store I saw on our way." The other two followed in suit, emptying their pockets of valuables. Out of the corner of his eye, Axel noticed his comrades didn't dress as plainly as he did, or well, he noticed Xayra didn't dress plainly. Though everything was the uniform black, the pants she wore were form fitting, silver zippers lining the pockets at her waist and calves. Her shirt was of leather, a v-neck lined with yet another zip, partially undone to the point of just barely showing cleavage. She wasn't an absolute bimbo like Roxanne, but at the same time she was definitely not flat-chested, maybe about a C-cup… maybe more…

_Wow._

Axel found himself last in tow once again as the walked to the store Xayra had mentioned, which wasn't too far away. A bell chimed as the door opened to reveal a brightly lit interior, not incredibly spacious but room enough for a wide assortment of clothing and shoes. He looked around for a moment or two before realizing he hadn't had to buy clothes for the past four years… and was stuck.

"Xayra…" he called softly, at a loss for what to do. She turned her head his way, having already begun plucking things off the racks. Axel tried to tell her without words that he needed help, hoping she'd understand.

The brunette must have though as she looked him up and down and smiled slightly before rummaging through the racks of clothes. Within minutes she came back, handing him a shirt and a jacket, along with a pair of shoes, pointing him towards a set of doors.

"Go in there and try on the clothes, 'kay?"

Axel did as she said, finding himself in a small dressing room with a mirror. He changed quickly, everything fitting reasonably well- the shirt was button-up, white and of some material he didn't recognize. The jacket was black with a zip going halfway up the front, like a blazer. The shoes she handed him were also black, skateboard style, with black laces and brown soles. After tweaking his outfit here and there, he stared at his appearance in the mirror, from the fang-like earring he wore dangling from his right ear to the rings he wore on his ungloved fingers to how thin he was without his cloak on.

_I don't look half bad._

He spent another five minutes being vain and fixing his hair before leaving the room, setting his boots and other shirt down in a chair by the window as a display caught his eye- sunglasses. He tried on maybe twenty pairs before finding ones he liked, tinted dark blue lenses with silver frames. Checking his appearance once more, he turned to see Xayra coming towards him.

"Good, you are ready," she said, sounding relieved. "Everything fits, right?" Axel nodded. "Okay, well Leoxi is trying to do something with his hair, then we will pay... Nice glasses." Something about her voice sounded breathless and rushed up until the last part. Axel pushed up his glasses to his hair line, cocking a slender red eyebrow at her, noticing she hadn't changed... for some reason he was glad, she looked quite nice already...

When she spoke again it caught him off guard. "Speaking of hair, does it ever lay flat?" she asked, referring to his flaming red hair. Self-consciously, Axel reached for one of his spikes near the front and tugged at it slightly, pulling it flat. He was surprised how long it was, past his shoulders; he let go when he was sure it was at full length and it stayed down... for about two seconds before popping up again. The corners of Xayra's mouth twitched before she let out a bark of her musical laughter, holding a hand up to her mouth. At that moment Leoxi finally came over, his hair pulled back into a long pony tail at the base of his neck, a pair of reading glasses perched on the brim of his nose. He looked like a young schoolteacher, yet the harsh gray eyes behind the glasses clearly said he had no tolerance for children of any age.

"Are we leaving?"

They quickly paid before departing the store- the price of everything they bought was easily around ten thousand munny, which Xayra paid extracting coins from a large munny pouch; Axel had never seen a thousand munny piece before, but from the sound of the bag, there were a lot more where those ten came from.

The conference was to be held in Twilight Town City Hall in the station district; the building was large with a lot of people milling around it. Xayra halted them in an alleyway nearby.

"This is very important," she began gazing around the corner toward the preceding crowd, "we must not give anyone a reason to be suspicious of us, because if our cover is blown... I do not even want to think about what would happen, least of all what Rixushin might do to us. That being said, if anyone recognises you, kill them immediately."

Axel frowned. "Whoa, wait, I can't just kill someone cause I _think_ they recognize me," he interjected just as Leoxi pushed him into the wall.

"And what would you have us do, hmm? No human's life is more important than what you do for the Organization, dammit. And even though it comes from Xayra, it's as good as a direct order from the Superior. Am I making myself clear?" Leoxi snarled, his face inches from Axel's. Axel looked over Leoxi's shoulder at Xayra, who was not looking at him, though she wore a hurt expression on her face. The red haired one narrowed his eyes in defiance as he returned his waning attention back to Leoxi, not verbally responding before he pushed the older male away.

_I hate you._

"Let's go."

Axel had never before been inside the Twilight Town City Hall before- nor had he been welcomed there as a Nobody... he doubted he'd still be welcome if someone realized he was a Nobody posing as someone else. As much as he hated to admit it, the other two had a point; if they were found out the city would be in uproar- they would be lucky to escape with their lives, and Rixushin would defiantly not be happy about that... Axel wasn't looking forward to 'dying' a second time.

The interior of the building was spacious, hundreds of small rectangular wooden tables lined the floor space in the main room. As far as people were concerned, it was jammed packed, the topic of every conversation he overheard while passing was the same- the Organization.

"I feel important," Axel murmured softly to the other two.

"Don't flatter yourself," Leoxi hissed. "They don't give a damn about us, least of all you."

Axel growled softly, ready to summon his chakrams just as he heard Xayra speak.

"Leoxi, be nice. He did not ask to come."

Great now Xayra was sticking up for him.

He sighed as the brunette took them both by the arm and dragged them through the crowd to a table that wasn't yet occupied, three chairs behind it. After instructing Axel to sit in the rightmost one and Leoxi in the left, she settled herself in between them, seizing a notepad and writing something hurriedly upon it. Axel saw that she used a strange kind of calligraphy, neither Hiragana nor Katakana, but some foreign kind of kanji. It was more elegant and embellished than any kind of kanji he recognized, but he only had a short time to study it before she folded up the page and hid it away in a pocket of her pants and took out another piece of paper. This time he recognized her kanji that sprawled across the page: '... the supposed mayor is here, sitting a the head table... leaders of worlds Meridian, Ellesmera, Amestris... very, very crowded...'

Half an hour passed before everyone began to quiet down and settle into their chairs; Xayra on her fourth piece of paper and Leoxi was playing with a really high-tech cell phone, Axel had busied himself by playing with the candles that were in front of him on the table, the flames doing weird things but other wise unnoticeable. Once it was completely silent the mayor began to give a speech, which wasn't even half as captivating as listening to Rixushin speak- at least the Superior's speeches weren't enough to provoke drowsiness, unlike the man speaking. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Xayra interestedly for a while, the feline angles of her face, those silvery eyes framed by her long black eyelashes (which he noticed were also slightly white-tipped, but it was hard to tell). She pursed her lips from time to time, eyes never flicking up from the page, apparently in concentrating hard on what the man was saying, but the way she sighed told him she'd much rather be doing something else. Axel remembered that she liked to draw in her sketchpad he sometimes saw her with whenever she was alone...For an instant he could have sworn her eyes flicked up his way, though it was incredibly brief... until she did it again.

He held her gaze for a couple of moments before her eyes dropped back to her work; he watched her bite her bottom lip trying to redouble her concentrative efforts. Five minutes later he held it captive again, her pen paused as she contemplated him.

"Why are you looking at me?" she whispered, the faintest trace of mirth in her voice.

"No reason."

She looked at him for a couple moments, flicking her eyes to the paper and then back up moments later.

"Will you stop?"

Axel pretended to think about it for a moment. "No."

"You are making me nervous."

She had said it. _You are making me nervous_. He didn't know why something that simple had such an effect on him as he blushed and tore his eyes away, seeking the answers in the flame of the candle.

He didn't take in much for the rest of the seminar, even as they walked back to they walked back to their hiding place a couple of hours later it felt like he was walking in a dream. Axel was silent the entire time that they toured the empty streets of the light realm's Sonzaishinakatta Sekai, and went through the door that connected to the other realm without protest.

_You a__re making me nervous._

Half way through their walk back to the fortress a great roar shook the silence as lightning streaked across the heavens, unleashing a great downpour from the sky. He didn't even bother putting up his hood, sheets of rain drenching him, water streaming down his face.

_At least my hair's flat now._

_Yo__u are making me nervous._

Memory's Skyscraper loomed up endlessly up above them as they approached, sounds of laughter could be heard over the deafening crashes of thunder and pounding rain. The source of merriment was easily identified as Demyx who was dancing around unhooded, taking in the complete joy only he could feel being absolutely soaked with water.

The lift point pattered with rain as it took them up to Nothing's Call, where the rain and thunder sounds weren't as intense. There they were met by a hooded figure determined to be Rixushin; Axel wasn't aware of whether or not they exchanged words, he had eyes for none other than Xayra. She looked back at him from under her loose hood as she was led away by Rixushin, her gaze was his again.

_You__ are making me nervous._


	10. Chapter 10: Aspire in Order to Become

Chapter Ten: Aspire in Order to Become

She wasn't sure of how much time had elapsed, but it had definitely been a while. Two months, maybe. But not three. Two and a half months and all had been well for Xayra, which was rare since there was always something amiss in the brunette's life, and the brunette's life was the Organization. No more holographic Xemnases for a full two months. No more holographic Xemnases getting dismembered by flying zanbatou either. And no more angry/pissed off/ trying to get drunk Rixushin either, even though Rixushin was still there being his same 'moody' self. Something had to be wrong. She knew it.

Staring off into the distance of Twilight's View, Xayra sighed. She was perched in her favorite insignia window, resting more languorously than she ever allowed herself to be seen. Occasionally sending out tendrils of darkness, she was able to locate each of the individual members of the Organization; it was Saturday, so most of them were in their rooms, except for Axel. She wondered where he was.

With nothing better to do, she extracted her sketchbook from the depths of her cloak, a sharpened pencil accompanying it. She wasn't a drawing fool like that Naminé kid, but she considered herself to be quite good; also, it was the only thing she really could do what with not having much free time. Unlike her friends, her personal life wasn't too exciting: Six and Demyx had their music, Xenami her various interests in the arcane arts, and Axel... what did Axel do? He had to do _something_; he seemed like a guy who led an exciting lifestyle outside of his Organization work, the renegade Nobody whose hobbies are unknown to the all-seeing and knowing Xayra... Xayra prided herself slightly for knowing everything that went on in the Organization- she had to, working directly under Rixushin. The only person who might know as much or even more than she did was Six, who used his telepathy to read minds.

Flipping open the pad to a blank sheet, she cast her mind around for things to draw; lately it had been sketches of the various antics of her fellow members, before that it had been seraemon, the sentient race that inhabited her home world alongside humans- Xayra had been born human, but her short little black-haired friend who was from the same world had been a seraemon. Now tapping the page impatiently with the eraser of her pencil, she sent out another tendril of darkness- no one had moved much and Axel was still as unlocateable as ever.

"Whatcha drawin'?"

The sudden sound made her jump as she turned her head to see Axel not too far away, leaning casually against the same wall she was, his trademark smirk on his face. Before she had time to react, he swiped the pad from her hands and sat down against the wall opposite from hers, long legs inclined slightly on the gentle curve of the carved out marble window.

"Hey!" Xayra cried out in alarm. "Give that ba-" She was cut off as Axel held up a finger to silence her.

"Oh yes, this right here, this is great," the redhead said turning the pad over in his hands so she could she the blank page she had previously been contemplating.

_What are you talking about?_

"I just _love_ how the lack of colour just compliments this empty space right here," he pointed with a long gloved finger to a random spot on the page, "and here, and here... oh my! There's another. You know, you should win a prize: Best Blank Page." Axel's emerald green eyes were filled with laughter, as though this was the absolute most hilarious thing he had done all week. Xayra raised an eyebrow.

"Are you mocking me?"

"No, why would I do that? And I'm serious; this right here is pretty sexy."

"I think you are."

"Okay, well it's not as pretty as you are, but come on, nothing is."

Xayra blushed slightly, relaxing a bit. "Are you trying to sweet talk me into selling you a blank piece of paper?"

Axel gave her his smirk. "Is it working?"

Xayra smirked in reply. "No."

"I'll give you..." Axel trailed off, rummaging through his pockets until extracting a blue and gold coin. "Twenty munny."

"The entire book did not even cost that much," Xayra pointed out.

"It didn't? But the paper's so nice!" Axel joked stroking the page, which elicited a laugh from Xayra. "Ah, there we go. That's what I wanted the whole time," he said with a smile, which Xayra meekly returned. "So, can I have the page?"

"What about my twenty munny?"

"I'm envisioning a scenario where you give it to me for free, and all I have to do is make you laugh some more."

The brunette rolled her eyes dramatically. "Deal."

"Excellent," Axel said carefully removing the page from the binding. Xayra watched as he carefully folded it into fourths and stuck it in his cloak pocket.

"So how long had you been standing there?" she asked, wondering how she could have failed to sense him if he was so near.

"Long enough. You know, I was really starting to wonder if you were going to notice me."

"As you can see, I did not."

"Xayra, Xayra, Xayra, always so observant, but fails to notice little old Axel. What shame." He smirked again at her, turning the sketchbook over and over in his hands.

Xayra frowned, her eyebrows coming together in a 'V' formation. "Am I ever going to get my book back?"

Axel stopped his constant hand movements for a moment. "No, no, I don't think so."

"Axel," Xayra said warningly.

"Xayra," he mimicked her.

"I am warning you."

"Oooo, I'm so scared."

Xayra summoned her black and silver odachi, directing the tip towards Axel. The steely point was about six inches from his throat; a sharp jab from that range could prove fatal. The red-haired renegade stared up the length of the blade, however, not making any signs of relinquishing the pad.

"This is quite beautiful," he said as though admiring the intricate designs wrought in silver in the polished black steel. In reply, Xayra lightly pressed the tip onto the flesh of his neck; Axel gulped as the cold steel touched him, drawing a tiny amount of blood. "Okay, okay. You win."

"That is what I thought you said, Number twenty-one." Xayra dismissed her sword before recollecting the pad and standing with her arms folded next to where Axel had been sitting. Axel also stood up, quite a bit taller than she was, the top of her head might brush against his chin.

"Y'know what you're not nice" he said, green eyes peering into silver ones. "And that's mister Number twenty-one to you." Axel waved a finger in a Demyx-like manner, walking a slow circle around her. Xayra scoffed.

"Funny, I am pretty sure the last time I checked I was a higher rank than you."

"Oh, that's nice, but frankly, I don't care."

"Y'know what... YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!" Xayra mocked, but there was pure amusement in her tone.

Axel grinned. "And proud of it." He stopped in front of her, hands in his pockets.

"I should just push you off here and rid myself of the annoyance that is Axel," the brunette suggested, gesturing to the ledge of the window, not even two feet behind them.

"You might, and probably will, yet I don't think you'd do that to me," he replied.

Xayra rose up slightly on the balls of her feet, her face barely two inches from Axel's. She pressed a finger to his chest. "Try me," she murmured, adding pressure to their physical connection. Axel's catlike eyes were contemplating, he ran his fingers through his hair as he fixed her with a stare so aspiring it seemed to steal away all her thoughts and direct her attention completely on him. Her gaze softened as she took a step forward closing their distance, Axel leaning closer to her, she could feel his quickened breathing, his warmth... yet for some reason, it didn't happen. Only a hair's breadth of space between them, it was there, she 'felt' it, and then it was over. Xayra averted her eyes, not wanting to meet that beautiful stare, she saw that in their little encounter her gloved fingers had laced with his. Pulling away, she turned on her heel and left him where he stood.

--End Chapter Ten--


	11. Chapter 11: Alektorophobia, NSWP

Chapter Eleven: Alektorophobia, Never Synonymous with Pride

Not too sure, but he knew she was avoiding him. She had to be, he hadn't seen her since- at least, only rarely but never on her own, Rixushin accompanying her like an overly pompous guard dog. They talked in low, whispered speech, her never once looking his way as they passed.

Axel stared off after his infatuation, her white tipped hair swaying slightly as she walked. How he longed to be the one walking with her, but how would that be possible if she wouldn't even look at him? The redhead sighed, continuing onto the sparring field, where he had promised Demyx that he would hang out with him today.

Six and Xenami also greeted him when he stepped onto the dark blue marble, though the four were not the only ones in the room, Zexion sulking not too far away. Ignoring him, Axel sat on the steps of the crystal staircase and looked at the wall past Demyx, rather than directly at him.

"I'm here, now what d'ya want, Demyx?"

"Oooo, someone's touchy today," Xenami commented, looking at him. Axel had noticed that Xenami was a lot more talkative around him than she was when they first met, along with the realization that she and Naminé were quite different, despite their similar appearances; apparently Xenami was quite offended that her 'twin' was a lame goody-two-shoes.

"I'm fine."

"Aww, is wittle Axel having big boy problems?" Six teased, balancing on the narrow railing that lined the stairs on either side; he cleared the five feet separating each rail with a catlike leap, landing nimbly on a single foot, his platform boots making only the softest of sounds. You just had to admire Six at a time like this, for he was capable of doing acrobatics that very few humans could manage, especially not while wearing long baggy pants and boots.

"At least I can have **big** boy problems," Axel retorted watching Six bend over backwards into a handstand, his cloak sagging down just slightly and claws making tiny clinks as he 'walked' over to face the older Nobody.

"So what? I was just suggesting that you finally hit puberty. Took you long enough." The demon smirked at him, Demyx and Xenami laughing.

"Oh yes, and when I hit my growth spurt, I'll still be taller than you'll ever be," Axel sneered, causing the laughing two to roar with their vocalized mirth. Six gave him that look that said he'd like nothing more than to rip Axel's arm off, before doing a graceful somersault and sat down on the floor next to Xenami.

"Are we getting on with this or what?" the female blonde asked, looking expectantly at Demyx. The uke sighed before smiling jubilantly at them.

"This," he espoused with a completely unnecessary flourish of the hand, "is The Secret Demyx's Idea to Figure Out What Everyone's Deepest, Darkest Secret Is, a.k.a. TSDIFOWEDDSI!" The other three stared at Demyx with blank looks on their faces, dumbfounded.

"You do know that's stupid, right?" Six sassed, the first to recover from their stupor.

"Shut up, Six," Demyx leered. "We all know how you hate being called short."

Six growled jumping up. "That's not much of a secret, now is it?" Demyx was easily a good eleven inches taller than him, standing doing absolutely nothing to better Six's retort. Suddenly the demon sniffed the air, a wolfish grin on his face. "Xayra! Axel and Demyx are calling me short again!"

Axel looked up, his mood brightening. _Xayra?_

She appeared out of a dark portal, looking slightly annoyed. "Yes, mistress?" she said exasperatedly, sarcasm heavy in her voice; those silvery eyes of hers had a piercing quality at the moment, a facial expression to match. Axel had never seen her so stressed out before, though he couldn't help but grin at the 'mistress' comment.

_At least she still has a sense of humor._

"Those two!" Six was jumping up and down excitedly, apparently under the assumption that Xayra would deal out justice to the wrong doers. Xayra gave him a pained and pointed look, turning her glare next to Demyx, finally resting on Axel. Her expression was unreadable as she studied him, before returning her attention back to Six, no longer bouncing. Bending slightly in front of him, she cupped the young brunette's face almost maternally and smiled, and brought her hand back to slap him against the back of the head.

"I do not give a damn about your stupid height problems!" she screamed, slapping him again.

"You done?" Six still stood there in front of Xayra, a look of amusement on his face.

"Yes, yes I think so," she replied, regaining her composure as she shook back her ebony locks from her eyes, breathing somewhat heavy.

"Good," the demon answered. "I wanted to laugh so badly," he said with a smirk, glancing back to where the bewildered other three sat. "Go sit next to Axel, cause you might wanna be here when I get back. Axel, make sure she doesn't go anywhere."

"Yes, ma'am," Axel smirked, building on Xayra's earlier joke. Six narrowed his eyes at him before conjuring a dark corridor and disappearing inside of it. At the same time Xayra sat next to him on the same crystal stair, not too close nor too far away. A couple of moments passed and he stole a glance at her: she sat with a placid tranquility, propping her self up with her hands on the hard step, much more relaxed than before. It reminded him of how she was when he had talked with her that day a couple weeks earlier, before they had their... encounter...

_Don't think about that!_ he mentally berated himself, tearing his eyes away from her face; that idle hand not too far away caught his attention again.

_He cautiously extended his hand out towards hers, Xayra giving him a look of mingled surprise and interest. "He told me to make sure you don't go anywhere," he explained, enjoying the feeling of her small hand in his large one._

"_Oh, Axel..."_

"Oh, Axel..."

He was snapped back to reality by someone saying his name, and the uncomfortable feeling that Demyx was touching him inappropriately again. Turns out he was, the uke rubbing catlike against Axel's chest, arms around his waist.

"GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Axel yelled in horror, trying to push Demyx away. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" The two girls were laughing at his struggle to rid himself of the rapist situation, Axel finally succeeding by igniting his torso with blue flame.

"It took you long enough!" Xenami laughed. "You had this dreamy expression on your face like you were all enjoying it."

"I wasn't!" Axel said exasperatedly. "I didn't even notice he was doing it!"

"How could you not notice Demyx trying to crawl into your lap?" Xayra inquired, eyebrows raised. Axel looked at her.

_I was too busy thinking about you..._

"I don't know! You don't just expect for another man to start molesting you!" he said in defense, slapping away Demyx's hand as it tried to touch his hair through the railing of the staircase. At that moment a dark portal appeared, Six stepping out of it, but not closing it behind him just yet.

"What'd I miss?" he asked, looking from one face to another. Axel slapped away Demyx's hand again with a threat he would punch his lights out if he ever touched him again. "Axel, was Demyx molesting you again?" Axel nodded glaring out of the corner of his eye at the uke. Six laughed, retrieving something from his dark corridor.

"Demyx, I got you something..."

"Oooo! Present!" Demyx cheered, running up to Six like a hyper puppy.

"Here. Have fun." That could have been the worst thing Six could have said as Axel watched Demyx's eyes turn the size of saucer plates, but it wasn't in happiness- that was pure fear.

"Big... scary... feathery... CHICKEN!" Demyx screamed, getting louder and louder with each syllable as he threw the giant stuffed chicken up into the air and screamed in terror, trying to hide behind the stairs and every where else he could find, his friends providing no solstice, as they were all howling with laughter. Demyx's screams proved to be still louder and they began to draw attention in the forms of Vixid and Xilot.

"I thought we heard your dulcet cries, Demyx," Xilot said, striding ahead of his brother.

"You keep that up and Rixushin-sama will come and see who's being killed," Vixid chimed in.

"Along with everyone else."

"You wouldn't want that."

"They might bring more chickens."

This was the first time Axel had really been around the twin brothers, but he knew enough about them to be able to tell them apart. Though both had the same light blonde hair, brown eyes and tanned skin, Xilot preferred to wear his hair pulled back in a mullet, the top messy and spiky while the ponytail at the nape of his neck reached to just above his calves, a pendant in the shape of the Organization's insignia tied at the end; Vixid kept his hair free from restraint, letting it hand in a strait blonde mass down to his waist, his eyebrows were pierced on both sides of his face.

"Must you two always complete each other's sentences?" Xenami asked, looking up at them from where she sat on the floor. Next to her, Six was still roaring with laughter, his stuffed chicken dwarfing him from where it was positioned behind him.

"No, we don't," the mullet haired blonde snapped, sounding insulted.

"But it's always fun-" added his brother.

"To mess with your mind."

"Especially you, Xena-chan," Vixid grinned lecherously, waving his fingers in a suggestive manner. Axel, having lost all interest in watching Demyx, snickered as Xenami, looking abashed and traumatized in all her Naminéness, returned the wave.

"Is that who I think that is?" Xilot gasped theatrically, clapping his hands. "It's sexy Zexy!" Zexion, who Axel had all but forgotten about, looked up at the sound of his name echoing throughout the stadium-like arena; in the instant before the reverberations stopped Xilot was in front of the blue haired illusionist, however, no darkness lingered in his wake to suggest he had made the transition by teleporting. "I heard all about you and Roxanne," he said in a singsong voice, every syllable as audible to Axel as though the harasser and his harassee were entertaining no more than five feet away. The red-haired one stole another glance at Xayra who was gazing fixedly off into the distance with her hands now folded in her lap, visage expressionless aside from the twitching corners of her mouth, fighting a smile.

"You know that could be considered statutory rape!"

The smile won, accompanied by an amused sound escaping her for a single moment, silver optics meeting emerald for a flicker of an instant.

"Are they always like this?" Axel said in an undertone, attempting to forge conversation between them. The brunette gave him a side long glance, a tiny nod her answer.

_That's all I get? A nod? But- last time..._

_Last time..._

_Don't think about that!_ he scolded himself nonverbally again, just as she began speaking in a soft and near inaudible tone, not looking at him.

"They do not care if they offend or embarrass you, as long as it is even somewhat amusing to them." Axel leaned closer to hear her, and saw that she was trying not to attract the attention of Vixid chatting with Six and Xenami nearby. "If you have a death wish, then feel free to irritate one of them, because they will gladly do it themselves, or inflame someone else for the job if they do not feel like dirtying their own hands."

"HOW FUCKING OLD ARE YOU?!" Axel heard the projection, a moment of silence following he assumed to be Zexion replying. Whatever that inaudible reply was, Xilot didn't seem to be satisfied. "Tupperware, how old are you?"

This awkward question brought Axel's attention to the short black-haired one with the chicken, who was still teasing a whimpering Demyx; he turned to face the blonde bishounen on the other side of the room, gave him the dirtiest look he could muster accompanied by the raising of one of his clawed middle fingers in an obscene hand gesture, and replied with a curt "Eighteen."

It might be hard to believe, but that was how it was in the Organization, or at least for Nobodies in general- Nobodies typically don't age and are immortal in that aspect, keeping their same physical appearance for the rest of their lives. However, at the same time, really young Nobodies **do** in fact age, though very slowly up until they 'mature' at the physical age of seventeen. Axel himself didn't have to worry about 'maturing', as he had been nineteen when his heart was taken and was now nearing twenty-four, though Six on the other hand couldn't have been physically older than thirteen or fourteen, so despite his actual age, he had to deal with it. Axel also remembered how Roxas, who had only been fourteen when he joined the Organization, had seemed to always grow a little bit older in that year or so that Axel had known him, though really he was younger than Six. It was a very complicated subject, and hard to observe in the Organization, since almost all of them had been older than seventeen by the time they had joined, Six and Roxas being the only exception.

The brothers' identical laughter rang throughout the room before stopping abruptly and simultaneously, Xilot continuing on with his well annunciated torment of Zexion.

"Aww, Tepie-kun, still the baby of the Organization, aren't you?" the other twin teased, flipping his long blonde hair, silver piercings glinting in the soft glow of the room. "Wait... what about that Rocksass kid? You're older than him, right?" he said thoughtfully, vocalizing Axel's thoughts.

"It's **Roxas**," Axel corrected; Vixid gave him a look of complete and utter surprise so thorough it would seem like he had been completely unaware of Axel's presence.

"Oh, Axel-san, you're here! How are you?" he said boisterously, playing it off while giving his hand a vigorous shaking. Before the redhead could reply, he continued, "That's good to hear! Oh, and Xayra-chan, you're here too! Lovely." He threw his arms awkwardly around the brunette, kissing her cheeks multiple times; Axel involuntarily loosed a threatening growl at the mass of blonde hair kissing Xayra, but it wasn't loud enough for either of them to take notice. "I heard Xuxu-sama was working you like a dog!"

Xayra looked down at her hands, cheeks slightly tinted red from the repeated contact. "Do not let Rixushin hear you call him Xuxu," she reprimanded, though Axel could see her smile.

Vixid folded his arms with a smirk, taking a step back. "You just make sure Xuxu-sama doesn't see you sitting that close to Axel."

Perplexed, Axel glanced downwards, surprise greeting him as he realized that their previous distance had been reduced to nil, what shocked him more was how he hadn't even been conscious of their proximity. Reacting before she could, the titian-haired Nobody shimmied himself to the end of the stair, cool crystal meeting burning flesh as turquoise emerald found darkness, closing his eyes, furious with himself. Unceasingly aware he was of her grey eyes upon him, that stare more than likely accusing if anything else.

_What is wrong with me?_

They had been alone together, so close he could count her every white-tipped eyelash, coated in a thin oil that made them glisten. He had been beyond nervous, stuck between a Xayra and a fall to his doom- he chose Xayra. It had been almost like a silent confession, their lips an absolute minuscule distance from being together, he had loved that tension that had grown between them, tension of all kinds, tension he wanted to relieve with a press of his lips to hers... and maybe more if luck prevailed. He held her hand in his, trusting she wouldn't push him over the edge, but what happened afterwards made him wish that she did. All the signs were there, they were screaming to him and he had been excited, until it all came crashing down as she pulled away, left him standing there. It had been pain beyond pain, a pain too intense, a pain he knew as a Nobody he shouldn't be feeling, he didn't even remember hurting that bad when Roxas had left. It gripped his nonexistent heart and ripped it to shreds... incapable of forming his own tears he had fled the castle to one of the far districts of Dark City, rain drenching him to the point where he could have caught pneumonia, but he hadn't cared, nothing had made sense to him then. Only two things had willed him to come back to the castle- it was bad enough that she had done this to him, but he knew in the long run it would hurt a lot worse to never see her again... on top of that a certain annoying blonde uke had sought him out and wouldn't leave him alone; the thing was, Demyx seemed to know exactly what to say to make him come back, and it made Axel worry if Demyx knew more about his 'feelings' for Xayra than he was letting on. Either way, he had come back to the castle, and though he never realized it at the time, but he looked for her, for some sign of her, and it hurt when she was no where to be found. His woe at times had been so great that he had shut himself up in his dorm for days at a time, Demyx occasionally coming and bringing him food and company... Still, it hurt...

"Axel, you alive in there?" A soft poking on his temple brought him back to awareness.

"Wha?" He blinked his eyes as Demyx focused into view before him, a worried look on his face.

"You've been like that for hours, man. Six tells me you've been having depressing dreams."

"Well doesn't Six always know everything?" Axel said defensively, though he knew he shouldn't snap at the kid, he was only trying to help.

Demyx laughed. "He does, doesn't he?" He sat down on his knees in front of Axel, summoning his sitar into existence. He strummed a few random cords as prelude to a moment of silence. "You should tell her how you feel, man."

_So he does know..._

"How I feel about who?" Axel tried to act as though he hadn't a clue what Demyx was talking about, but the blonde saw right through him.

"You know," he urged. "Xayra..." Demyx's voice trailed off, a dyad of aqueous figures moving gracefully before him; they took on the forms of two who were especially familiar, Axel frowned at them.

"I can't."

"Since when?" The uke sounded abashed, as though his great hero had just given up. "What ever happened to the Axel who was always happy, always smiling or laughing at someone? We miss that Axel." The water forms began to take on a more distinct shape, the formation of someone with spiky hair making itself prominent.

"We?"

"You know, me, Six, Xenami, Xayra... All of us," he smiled, looking more mature than Axel remembered him being.

"Oh, forget it. She doesn't like me," Axel bemoaned, becoming frustrated.

"I bet you she does."

"What do you know? It's not like it matters anymore. And, if she liked me so much, then why has she been avoiding me lately?" Axel snapped, his temper growing.

Demyx sighed, his water figures complete. "That, my friend, is something you'll have to ask her for yourself." Axel saw that these forms resembled the actual ones perfectly- one was of Axel himself, the other of Xayra in striking detail. His small watery self had its arms around her, it looked happy, happier than the real Axel had felt in a while. The red-haired Nobody smiled, mood lifted reasonably.

"Come on, my friend," Demyx said, standing up, his water forms becoming vapour. "Rixushin wants us all in the Auditorium for dinner. If we don't hurry, we'll be late."

Axel nodded in ascent, standing as well.

"Right."

–End Chapter 11–

* * *

ok, i got some explaining to do. lets go in order, shall we?

1- if you didn't know that alektorophobia is the irrational fear of chickens, hopefully now you understand and realize that Demyx is an alektorophobe (i just thought it would be funny)

2- You may have noticed I edited out what this little note was about, the whole language thing was pointless and it finally succeded in pissing me off to the point where I was like 'I HATE YOU GO AWAY!' Yus, so no more language!

3- random facts i decide i want to add about the organization and Nobodies (ie- the explanation about how Nobodies 'mature', the different parts of the castle, etc.) will be added, and try to pay attention to them, because i will be referring back to them in future chapters (the 'maturing' thing will also be prominent in the sequel, but thats a long way off)

4- Dark City the city of The World That Never Was. you don't really think im gonna call the damn city TWTNW the enitre fic, right? i doubt i'll even make the characters call it that long ass name. Dark City is perfectly acceptable (i don't know if i've given the city a name earlier in the fic already, but if i did, it was still Dark City

ok, no more explanations. i hope this cleared somethings up for you. Please review? i'll give you a cookie!


	12. Chapter 12: To Infuriate The Titianesque

Chapter Twelve: To Infuriate the Titianesque

Axel felt his mouth water at the sight of the Auditorium, for situated in the very center was a large circular table, and on this table was something wonderful- and it wasn't rice! A tugging on his arm was Demyx pulling him to sit down in one of the twenty-two chairs that rimmed said feast; at present, no one had touched the food, though obviously not from lack of trying- every couple of seconds an invisible force made itself known as it repelled away a reaching hand, a kind of zip noise accompanying its opalescent shimmers.

By the time all but a single chair had been filled, his fellow Nobodies were starting to get impatient, each visage bore expressions of various stages of desperation, frustration, or complete boredom- next to Axel, Demyx was absentmindedly strumming his sitar in a vagrant melody; on Demyx's other side, Xenami had immersed herself in a book; adjacent to her was Six, acting as the current source of the barrier's constant flickers, as he was drumming upon it nonstop with his hashi. Emerald optics located Xayra on the far side of the table, the seat next to her he assumed to be Rixushin's, as it was unoccupied and the Superior nowhere in sight. Axel watched her lazily extend her hand towards that accursed barrier- instead of repelling her hand away like everyone else's, the shimmering substance parted like the film of a soap bubble and a plump roll was seized by slender ungloved fingers. He saw her look shiftily around before plucking off a piece and popping it into her mouth, grinning satisfied like the cat that ate the canary.

"Xayra, that is so not cool."

Whoever the speaker was must have known that bringing attention to Xayra's roll-filching would incite a riot- twenty pairs of eyes stared murderously at her, some as though they were about to pounce and rip her apart.

"It's **my** force field, thank you. I am allowed to have a roll if it means exerting my precious energy to keep you nutrition-horny bastards off the food." Cold silver optics and a curt reply were all that was required to provoke angry mutterings and strings of curses from the other Nobodies, demeanors becoming more tense and brittle. Minutes passed with still no sign of the Superior while patiences grew thin, the wishes for Xayra's ill being becoming louder and more malicious. Finally, one of them broke.

"Where the fuck is Rixushin!" The yelling Nobody was Larxene, looking more vicious than ever, her long antennae-like bangs sticking up in anger. A roar of ascent followed her colorful inquiry, an impatient banging of fists accompanying it. Behind where Axel was seated, grand double-doors opened and admitted a hooded figure to the infuriated din.

"I am here, peons. I am here."

"That bitch did **not** just call me a peon!" the frustrated and standing blonde screamed, looking as though she were about to rush the Superior and tear him to shreds herself. Tension broke with laughter, smartass comments ensuing.

"I think he just did," the green haired alchemist smirked, loudest of them all. A murmur of 'Oooo, dis' and 'Owned' ran through the small dinner crowd, settling down as Rixushin, having removed his hood and gloves, waved his hands for silence. However, before he could speak, someone else started to.

"Xuxu-sama, what do we owe this momentous occasion of having dinner with heika and then having to wait an hour to actually eat?" Vixid inquired, sitting juxtapose to his brother and the airweilder Rixen. The Superior gave him a pointed glare for interrupting him, before assuming his seat next to Xayra.

"I refuse to eat like a peasant farmer. Tonight, I was merely feeling generous."

"Ah… I was afraid we had run out of rice."

Rixushin scoffed. "We have enough rice to thoroughly feed an army for the next sixteen years. I assure you need not worry for a long time yet."

"Dammit," Axel swore under his breath- he heard the same complaint issuing from many of his comrades.

"Wait, Rixushin, what if I told you I recently developed an allergy to rice?" Xigbar asked from in between Vexen and Xaldin.

A slender bluish-black eyebrow raised in amusement. "Then you're just shit out of luck."

"But-"

"Shut up!" Larxene yowled, antennas on end at static electricity jumped between them. "Some of us are fucking starving here!"

"Very well. Number eight, if you please."

A final gleam of the barrier pushed every thought from his mind aside from the realization of how hungry he really was, his only breakfast having been one of the sea salt ice creams Demyx had filched for him from one of the dungeons. After piling his plate high with anything he could reach, Axel growled hungrily, tearing into a piece of chicken with his teeth.

"Axel, what's this?"

Not pausing in his consummation of a third piece of chicken, he glanced up to see Six with his claws partially sunken into what looked like an ordinary baked potato.

"It's a potato, dumbass. What'd you think it was, a rock?" the red haired Nobody replied thickly, having practically inhaled half a roll.

"Y-yeah, but… is it food?"

"Would it be on the table if it was _not_ food?"

"Well, plates are on the table, and those aren't food," Six pointed out, switching the potato to his other set of talons.

_You know damn well what I meant._

"But still, what is it?" he pressed on anxiously.

Axel rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to set the damn thing on fire in the middle of dinner. "Bite it and find out," he snapped, returning to his chicken.

"You think I'm stupid? I'm not gonna bite this potato thing if I don't know what it is."

_Suit yourself._

"Xayra-chan! What's this?"

Emerald green optics fell upon her once more- she turned her head in the direction of the demon with the starch, contemplating the deformed brown skinned mass slipping slowly down four-inch black talons to his pale fingertips. For a short moment, she cocked her head to the side, confused.

"Earth apple?" she suggested, shrugging her shoulders, causing her hair to flutter lightly where it cascaded around them. Taking in the rest of her, Axel noticed she had not a crumb on her plate, had not moved her hashi and inch, though her wine glass was filled to the brim with amber liquid.

_Why is she not eating?_

"You know what, this is **exactly** why I don't eat human food," Six muttered loudly, giving the mutilated starch a disgusted look before sticking it in his pocket and seizing a plate of very rare steak, still glistening with what appeared to be blood. Turning away before he lost his appetite, Axel flicked his eyes back in Xayra's direction, starting just slightly as he acknowledged that he was a captive of her gaze… She slowly raised her glass to her lips, taking a long sip of the substance, though her gaze never wavered from his…

"Axel, you're undressing her with your eyes. Stop it."

An instant later a soft something collided with the side of his head- he turned his head only to have another something hit him right on the bridge of his nose. Axel looked incredulously at the two sitting on the other side of Demyx, Xenami cackling loudly as a roll smacked the redhead dead in the center of his forehead, aimed by Six.

"WILL YOU TWO STOP THROWING SHIT AT ME!" he yelled, jumping up and knocking the rolls that had taken residence in his lap to the floor, the hashi he held between his first finger and thumb ignited at the same time as his hair- directly next to him, Demyx scooted away, already knowing how violent a pissed off Axel could be.

"Axel! Down!" Rixushin barked from across the table, having stood up at the first sign of Axel's temper- Axel gave the elder male an infuriated glare as Demyx's hands forced him back down into the chair. "Xenami! Sixotteplin! DO NOT THROW FOOD!"

"Yes sir!" they replied in unison, not stupid enough to directly disrespect the Superior. They bowed their heads like the punished and sat unnaturally still, though moments later once order was restored and conversations reinstated, they let out a burst of laughter, having obviously held it in from the moment it all began.

Axel, now hashi-less and pissed off, reached out towards his untouched wineglass, near brimming with the same liquid that filled his infatuation's, and brought it to his lips. It tasted strange, something he had never had before, slightly tart with a somewhat bitter after taste. He took another sip and let it linger on his tongue before swallowing- this time, a little better, but still bitter. Not sure whether or not he liked this new drink, he set it down before him on the table, just as something else caught his eye- on the marble of the table top danced tiny fragments of light, which he knew couldn't be possible since no true light existed in the room that could be refracted by the crystal. He felt thirsty again, thirst which he quenched by bringing the goblet once again to his lips and taking a long draught- it still wasn't great to taste, but it helped to saturate his need. A couple draughts later he had drained the glass and went to set it to the table; a shattering sound reached his ears, though it was far off and faint like the clamor of voices around him. Soft pressure on his left shoulder brought Demyx swimming into view; the blonde-brunette spoke, though distorted and incoherently.

_What the-?_

Pounding nearby assaulted the poor red-head's ears, reverberating endlessly through the massive migraine he was combating. His head felt heavy, red LCD to his right much too bright shining through the darkness. He groaned grabbing a pillow and covering his head with it.

_Wait, pillow? That must mean I'm in a bed… what in the world…_

She felt bad about it as she let herself into his room, having led the drunken one back to his abode to sleep off the affects of the alcohol. Last night had been interesting- he swayed on her arm talking nonsense, tripping over his cloak as they traversed stairs, laughing all the while… Now as she witnessed him, he was pulling pillows over his head to block out the sounds of her footsteps, red hair messy and all over the place… Though his words to her last night had been incoherent, there was one thing he had said to her as she helped him out of his cloak and other garments… the one thing he would never remember saying.

_I love you, Xayra._

"You cannot love me, Axel. We are Nobodies… love does not exist for us," she whispered to him in reply, both then and now as she sat on the side of his bed, fingers reaching out tentatively to stroke him the way she did the night they met… the night she fell in love with him.

Oppression hurts too badly when there's nothing you can do to fight back… it's worse when you're the one doing the oppressing.

He groaned softly before slipping back into uneasy sleep.

* * *

hye, its me, kya-chan (aohc, streetglow666, whatever). okay, explainations time 

1- hashi chopsticks, if you didn't know. if you are familiar with hashi ettique (sp), then you know that it is extremely rude to drum on things with your hashi, so, yeah. but i don't think the organization really cares

2- 'heika' is the honorific for 'your highness' (its very formal, and would be used for adressing the emperor of Japan, so why not the Superior of the Organzation?)fixed

3- It went bai bai.

4- Xenami and Six are so mean to axel, aren't they?

5- axel has very low alcohol tolerance, as you can see, so thats why he gets fucked up off of just one glass of wine.

6- at the end while axel's combating his migraine, i was switching back and forth between his and Xayra's POV, just so you know.

okay, review!


	13. Chapter 13: Burn

Chapter Thirteen: Burn

"So, what you're trying to say is that we're screwed?"

The words drifted up to her from Rixushin sitting before the hologram that occupied the center of the Auditorium once more, his legs folded under him as he conversed with the apparition. The glow that emanated from the manifestation was the only illumination to the dim mausoleum, casting herself and the Superior into the indefinite clarity of adumbration.

Xayra focused her silver eyes on the two men below her, drinking in every word that passed between them with an attention like no other. Literally on the edge of her seat, she all but refrained from joining Rixushin on the floor, Xemnas's serene voice hardly carrying to her awaiting ears.

"No, Rixushin, we are not _screwed_, we are just merely experiencing a moment of… complications," Xemnas replied in his silken tone, eyes casted downward towards the other Superior. "Which is to say that you might soon have the pleasure of playing host to another member of my Organization…"

Rixushin's eyebrows visibly contracted in annoyance. "And yet you admit that your minions are dropping like flies… You know, you're becoming more and more senile by the minute, old man." He stood up with a swish of his cloak, circling around the holographic Nobody like a wolf does its prey. "You know, I think it's about time I come to pay you a little visit, don't you agree, Xemnas? You know, just to check up on things, make a couple changes here and there… perhaps kill off a couple people- it's all good, eh?"

The silver haired elder's demeanor suddenly became more guarded. "Oh, I think not…" he trailed into silence, facial expression contemplating.

The younger Superior folded his arms, his eyes full of laughter and amusement. "You think not? Well, you see, Xemnas, it isn't about what you think, now is it?" he mocked. From her high place, Xayra let out a bark of laughter, drawing his attention to her. "You agree, don't you Xayra? Anyways, see you in the morning, old man. Bye!"

The hologram dissipated into thin air, drowning the Auditorium into absolute darkness, though their acute familiarity with darkness allowed them the same visibility associated with light. Drawn immediately to him, Xayra placed a hand upon his shoulder, exhibiting a slight degree of servile admiration.

"You are really going to go?" she inquired as he turned to face her.

"I made a threat, now I must follow through. You know that."

"What about your plan, involving-"

"No, Xayra, not _that_ following through- that's for later," he clarified hurriedly. "Speaking of which, how goes it with Axel?"

"F-fine, I guess…"

"Are you any closer to converting him?"

Xayra dropped her gaze. "Not really… he proves somewhat difficult."

_I am such a liar…_

"Really?" the Superior asked in surprise. "I had expected you be nearly half way complete by this time- it's been three months, Xayra."

"My apologies, Superior."

The raven haired man lifted a gentle hand to her cheek, a tender stroke ensuing. "You are forgiven, my dear. Just don't disappoint me again."

She blushed nervously, shifting to break their contact. "You need me to run an errand before you leave?"

"You read my mind."

1st Tower…

"Gaaaah… my head," Axel yawned loudly, sitting up in the darkness and stretching catlike for a couple moments. He lowered himself back down into his pillows with his exhalation, green eyes on the black box divining the time: 1:15PM.

"It's one? H-how long have I been sleeping?" he asked himself thoughtfully, letting his gaze roam the dark walls before him. "Better question- how did I get back in my room? The hell…" Lazily closing his eyes, he searched his mind for any memory of last night after dinner. Nothing. Well, one thing- he had a killer migraine which he knew had to have been triggered by something; it disturbed him, for the pyrokinetic never got sick, his body temperatures too high for any bacteria to survive for any period of time- too bad now he couldn't get out of work with a sick excuse… Speaking of which, he didn't even remember if Rixushin had even mentioned a training session for the day; if he had, then Axel knew the young Superior would be more than pissed off at his absence… Not that Axel cared.

Sitting up once more, he pushed back his black comforter and silken sheets and placed his bare feet to the floor, swaying slightly as he stood; he braced an arm against the wall to keep his balance as he paced the perimeter of the room he had officially deemed ungodly large. The light of his red marbled bathroom was the bane to his oversensitive green eyes, his soft pattering footsteps leading the way to his cabinet and the aspirins that were calling his name. Gulping down the chalky white tablets sans water, he staggered next to the shower stall, cold water (or at least it was to him) greeting the partially clothed redhead with a jolt. The steaming water poured down him while he used his remaining common sense to peel off the drenched articles of clothing and fling them with a sodden slap to the floor outside. Continuing on with the rest of his bathing behaviors, he was out in half an hour, fully awake and in want of strong black coffee.

Toweling his red hair, now in a damp cloud down his back, he strode naked into his closet, looking for a fresh uniform. He stopped, contemplating whether or not to employ the use of boxers today; it was a question he always asked and answered himself with the same response: why should he? It wasn't like he was expecting to be strutting about the castle with his pants off, and he didn't have anyone to be wearing them for… did he?

_No, you don't._

Besides, going boxer-less is comfy.

Axel snickered, grabbing a pair of his clean pants and pulling them on- no one was going to know he had the habit of going commando; also, if in the off chance that he **would** be strutting about the castle pant-less, who wouldn't want to see? He was a man! He had manhood! And now vanity was getting the best of him as he checked himself out in the full length mirror leaning against the wall.

Damn, he really needed that coffee.

His shirt came on over his damp hair which was beginning to fluff up again, his cloak pulled on and zipped up, familiar comfort of soft fabric against his barely tanned skin. He stepped into his boots and left the tiny room before continuing onto the tower corridor outside his dorm, dropping his silver keys into his pocket.

"I really hope I didn't do anything I'll regret," Axel murmured to no real audience besides his own conscience.

"Oh, rich irony, Axel. You should know we can't regret." He recognized that mocking tone before she appeared to him, Savage Nymph departing a dark portal twenty feet up the sloped corridor.

"Oh, haha, Larxene. Exactly the last person I wanted to see this morning," he said, turning his back to her and starting down the opposite direction, fluffy red locks swaying ever so slightly.

"Come on, Axel. You mean to tell me it's been all this time, and you haven't missed me even once?" Larxene simpered, darting in front of him.

"Not particularly," Axel replied, continuing past her without a second glance.

"So you're avoiding me? Three months and not a single word?"

Axel stopped in front of a large window at the base of the tower, through which sunlight streamed… sunlight?

"Oh, kami-sama. Giant ray of sunshine…" he frowned, the last bit having been said in unison with Larxene. "How much did I drink last night?"

"An entire glassful before you got sick," the blonde answered triumphantly. "What is that- a record for you?"

"Oh, shut up."

Axel turned a left at the end of the hall and then another to a set of marble stairs, Larxene trotting resolutely behind him the entire path to Nothing's Call, where they discovered the source of the 'giant ray of sunshine,' spotlighting its conjurer, Lehixos. The strawberry blonde man was surrounded by lesser Nobodies in the shape of spiny spheres, hovering about some four feet above the marble flooring; unhindered by any portions of the fortress, the light beam could be traced up to the skies where the tempestuous clouds had parted a miniscule distance to reveal black everlasting nightfall… which still didn't explain the sunshine. Outside the circling of lesser Nobodies was Demyx, clapping his hands and cheering- he stopped as Axel and Larxene passed and showed signs of rising to his feet, but Larxene's biting remark was faster.

"Stupid queer, no one wants your company. Not today, not ever."

Crestfallen, the male blonde dropped back down onto his haunches, emitting a mournful whine as he watched them continue to pass.

_Typical Larxene._

"Do you want something?" Axel inquired, finally turning to face her as he stood leaning against one of the marble pillars that contoured the railing of Brink of Despair's lift docking. "Isn't it time for you to go torture your man-slave Marluxia?"

Larxene gave him a satisfied smile. "Marl's laid, he won't need me until later." She paused, letting her words sink in. Axel raised an eyebrow in disgust, to which the Nymph grinned and continued. "I'm bored. I wanna play with Axel." She leaned close to him, her fingers on his slender waist- for a moment she looked back over her shoulder to the lift point docking, as though expecting the opaque ellipse to arrive at any moment.

Axel blinked at her. "Is that supposed to turn me on?" he asked, exceptionally conscious of her fingers rising up his sides.

"Why shouldn't it?" she purred softly in reply, pressing her body to his warmth as her teeth found his earlobe, nibbling gently. Axel tensed, if only just a little- it had been so long that he had gone without the touch of a woman, yet he was determined not to succumb, hands clenching the railing behind him like it were life support while he struggled not to lose himself.

Larxene's contented purring was not able to drown out the soft hiss of breath nor the pattering like cat feet of boots; Axel's green eyes opened slowly from their focus on the Nymph's golden highlights to fall upon the hooded figure whom he recognized immediately- for who else's curves had he studied to the point where he knew them better than his own? Their gazes met as she looked his way, loose hood not shadowing her visage enough to hide her- was it pain?- from him.

Before he could react the succubus on top of him did, shocking him so thoroughly his vision blurred for a couple of moments- he slumped down to the floor, feeling fried, all motor skills lost to him. Above him, he could make out Larxene's evil face looming in and out of the swimming blurries that was his current vision, and hear her taunting voice before she teleported away.

Luckily enough for Axel, Nobodies' recovery times are far less than that of humans', he having been stuck there a full three minutes before he was able to stand, swaying the way he did when he first got out of bed that morning. His previous migraine now threatened to rear its ugly head with a throbbing sensation to his temple, spinning vision provoking acute nausea. His mind, however, was fixated on another problem: Xayra.

_Your little stunt right there with blondey could have just ruined whatever chance __you possibly had and you know it, _ he mentally berated himself, striding down the corridors towards Crooked Ascension, hoping it would take him where he needed to go. The lift was noted for taking its riders to the exact floor of which their nonexistent hearts had yearning, though how it did so was unknown.

The outlying surroundings of the lift way blurred unceasingly past as the redhead was transported upwards; at the rate it was going, it seemed as though it would stop at the topmost level of the fortress, that which it did. The outer portion of Naught's Approach greeted him as he exited just north of Proof of Existence's entrance, temperatureless air blowing across his face with the delicacy of a feather. The view presented to him from his current location was that of 13th Tower, its peak the second highest rising of the castle- the first was that of Altar of Naught.

Assuming the Altar was where she had disappeared off to- for there was nowhere else for her to have gone, as Naught's Approach was more or less a direct path connecting Proof of Existence to Ruin and Creation's Passage, the only way to reach Altar of Naught- Axel followed the corridor to a large spacious, presumably bottomless chamber. The space of the room was dotted about with floating marble islands about fifteen feet in diameter, seemingly unconnected aside from the transparent shimmering walkways that had formed between them, a mechanism activated when one wishes to cross the area. His assumption having been verified, the red head began to traverse the room's length, keeping his eyes on the force supporting him, lest it suddenly disappear and leave him to plunge into the deep darkness of the chasm, his final breaths being taken into a broken and rapidly fading body, final thoughts a wish to see Xayra… he shivered- imagining your own death at the hands (figuratively, of course) of a malicious disappearing walkway was not fun.

Relieved to reach the other side and now faced with a new corridor more elegant and stable than the last, he continued on his course, all the while hoping his beloved was waiting for him.

--

While her eyes searched the expanse of clouds and skyline for a focal point of her attentions, her senses of darkness tracked the redhead through the castle, an unconscious effort forcing its way to being the main topic of her conscious thinking. As she sensed his approach from the corridor she herself had departed but twenty minutes ago, she clasped her hands in front of her all the tighter- maybe he really did care. She bothered not to lower her hood, nor to make any signs of acknowledging his presence; as he drew nearer slowly from behind, she felt a change in his demeanor, for it affected his darkness scent… it wasn't Nobody, whatever it was.

He ended his approach in leaning next to her on the balcony, his arms crossed in front of his body as he gazed off into the distance.

"Yo."

"Hey yourself."

One could only expect such directness from the renegade.

Too softly for her ears to hear he murmured a short something; Xayra glanced at him from the corner of her eye- in doing so she remembered when their positions were reversed, and her had regarded her in the same fashion… She grinned meekly to herself, extracting her hand self-consciously from the other's death grip to finger the lock of hair that had escaped from the confines of her hood to cascade down her front side; after doing so, she found herself loosening her hood more so than it had already been- fidgeting out of nervousness only the man beside her could cause.

"Do you know how I returned to my room last night? I have no idea, myself."

_Do I tell him?_

"…I walked you."

_Guess so…_

"Really now… How interesting…" He turned his head in her direction slightly, so they were facing each other.

"It is how you say."

"Don't tell me I made a jackass out of myself."

Xayra laughed softly. "Then I will not." Next to her, Axel made a tsking sound.

"You really know how to pick your words. I can't tell if you're mocking me or just being Xayra."

"I could say the same for you."

"See, there you go again." The redhead gave her an incredulous look, the tone of his voice amused. "I swear, I'm gonna get a complex if I keep hanging around you."

Xayra smirked. "Is that a bad thing?"

He seemed to think before answering. "In your case, no, but if it was anyone else, I must say I'd have to strangle them."

"Violent, are we not?"

"Damn strait."

They both laughed for a couple moments before falling into a mutual silence; she took advantage of their quiet to cherish the moment, time spent playing hooky from running errands to talk with Axel- she didn't know if that was good or bad.

"So…" Axel said somewhat boredly. "So so so so so so so so so…"

"So."

"… I have something I've been meaning to ask you."

The brunette returned her gaze to him. "About what?"

Axel groaned. "You know… about us."

Xayra bit her lip gently before replying. "Go on."

"Ah, well, I don't know how to explain it," he left his post beside her and walked a short distance away, hands behind his back, "but me and you, we have moments-"

"Awkward moments," she interjected, turning around to face him.

"Yes, Xayra, I know they're awkward, that's why I'm bringing them up." He began to pace back and forth as he continued speaking. "Okay, well, they're random, and they happen between us-"

"Obviously."

"-and someway or another, I end up looking like an idiot."

And here they were, bringing up the topic which she had hoped to avoid. Xayra cast her gaze down to her hands which she had interlocked again in her increasing anxiety.

"… Like when?" she asked quietly.

"Let's see: yesterday, and then that other time which I'm sure you remember- standing me up."

She refused to look up at him, her expression guilty- it was true.

"So, my question to you is… do you mean to do this to me? I mean, if you do, then I guess that's okay… As Nobodies, we really can't care… but for some reason, I do."

"You do?" _Is he serious?_

Xayra glanced up tentatively to see him standing before her; blinking a couple times, she blushed as he took her hands into his.

"You mean to say you don't?" he countered her defensively. Feeling awkward, she placed her arms about his neck, letting him pull her closer, his hands resting on her lower back.

"I do."

The redhead laughed mischievously in her ear. "Excellent."

Xayra pulled back suddenly to look at him better, remembering something. "But you like Larxene!" she said earnestly, though the other Nobody's hold upon her kept her from pulling away too far.

Axel looked taken aback, his eyebrows contracting. "Says who?"

"You were kissing her!" she replied frantically.

"I was** not** kissing her."

"Do not even try to say she was kissing you. I am not stupid, Axel."

"I never said you were. Look, nothing happened between us," he said with finality. "I would sooner kiss Demyx than let her touch me again."

"You know, Demyx is willing to grant you that opportunity," Xayra teased playfully, having calmed down noticeably.

"You better not tell him I said that," Axel warned, his expression a mock stern.

"Your secret is safe with me," she replied, dropping her voice to barely above a whisper. "So, umm, why exactly are we standing like this?" she questioned, knowing that to the eyes of an intruder, they must look very busy up there at the top of the castle.

"Standing like what?" the other inquired innocently, though in his emerald eyes gleamed that Axel ShineTM that said he knew exactly what he was doing.

"We are standing like, two inches apart, my arms around your neck, your hands about an inch from groping my-" she was cut off by the feeling of Axel's deft hands dropping down to the curve of her derrière, with a gentle squeeze he pulled her to him, sealing their distance. "That was not an invitation!" she chided, though on the inside she wasn't complaining.

"Anything else?" He turned on that Axel SmirkTM. "Your reverse psychology is killing me… just say 'yes Axel' like a good girl, and I'll give you what you want."

"And what is it that I want?" she asked mischievously.

He leaned closer to her, their faces near touching. "Me."

"…Yes Axel."

He had hungry hands, with hungry lips to match, pressing them firmly against hers. Without protest, she found herself kissing him back, her lips parting sensuously when his tongue begged entry. He made her 'feel' wanted, craved, a 'feeling' only one other person had ever aroused in her. Too bad that other person always had to intervene.

Reluctantly, Xayra pulled away, something her inamorato was loathe to let her do, soft lips still seeking hers in desire. His eyes read 'what's wrong', as his hands still clinged her to him, long gloved fingers stroking the longest regions of her hair.

"I have to go," she murmured softly, giving him a fond look. The redhead seemed just short of being heartbroken, like a man thirsting for water only to have it taken away once it was in his grasp. To pacify him, she kissed his lips deeply before teleporting off.

It was hard… but she just couldn't risk Rixushin catching her with another man.

--

Axel was alone again, his mind blissfully blank and all concern forgotten. His gloved fingertips were missing the feel of her, though not so much as his lips did. His tongue longed for the taste of her again, and his ears for the sound of her voice.

He closed his eyes in a carefree mood, committing the moment to memory as he leaned forward with his arms resting upon the balcony. The light breeze ruffled through his red spiked hair playfully, the scent of her still lingered upon it. Axel grinned in a self satisfied way, for once having what he had wanted. However, thoughts of a more libidinous matter plagued his mind, for the feeling of her body against his had gotten him hot… he'd probably make a stop back at his room for some alone time before continuing on his coffee prowl.


	14. Chapter 14: Bakani Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai

Chapter Fourteen: Bakani Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai

Axel greeted his lazy afternoon with the same indifference as any other- the rain fell from the sky in fine misting drizzle, shining the marble upon which he traversed. Flecks of water barely weighed down upon his fiery hair; not a drop plinked against the floor as he departed from the outer walkways of the castle to those that led him towards the Dining Room with its great Observation Deck- he had plans with his inamorata there.

Her back faced him upon his entry, her hair not done up in any particular fashion- Axel didn't have a preference to which way she was presented to him, as long as he was able to see her. The fire-lord advanced eagerly towards her at her table which she occupied; he swept aside the curtain of raven hair to reveal her exquisite neck, he kissed it wantonly, a lick to her pulse point accompanying.

"What's a beautiful thing like you doing all by yourself in a place like this?" he breathed huskily in her ear, his free hand caressing her side; her blushing heat enlightened him to the fact that he had succeeded in exciting her- the thought of her hot for him was singularly arousing and intriguing, the way she would give him those sidelong glances he could never completely discern, though he was sure they were of what he hoped was lascivious interest.

Her murmured reply was loathe to betray her inner sentiments.

"Waiting for you."

Axel smirked. "Oh really now?" He positioned himself next to her upon the circular apparatus that served as a seat, facing away from the glass tabletop. "Well, I was hoping you'd have something to give me…"

Xayra brought her hand to the side of his face, stroking his cheek with her thumb. She wore those fingerless gloves that he liked so much; the soft caress of her flesh against his was always a treat.

"I always do."

He pulled her close so they barely touched, their tentative connexion serving as a catalyst for his want; he had manipulated their positions so that she was seemingly on top of him; Xayra had always told him that was his submissive side coming out- oh, how he wanted her to dominate him.

"Then give it to me."

Axel loved having his passions sparked by this woman. His day was never complete without the kisses she gave him, the inhalation of her scent, the rise of her flushing heat which he needed to be the cause of… She hungered him, giving him cravings he resisted to ask her to satisfy; for the time they had been together, more times than not had he departed from their meetings in the mood for activities of a carnal nature, leaving him quite blue come morning.

Sweet osculations pleasured his lips as she kissed him, deepening as he slid his needy tongue into her mouth; he felt as though he could spend all day doing this, were it not for the need of food and the constant interruptions that would forever plague their little world of two.

The threesome of younger Nobodies could be heard from a couple corridors off as a patter of shoes and chatter; at the sound of which, he felt Xayra pull away- it was habit of her to do so, for he knew that she was reluctant to engage in any acts of affection while in their presence. So far the others remained seemingly oblivious to the change in their relationship, save for Demyx who had been witness to one of their fond embraces down by the sparring field.

He stole upon her another brief peck as the others entered the chamber from the east corridor at the base of the stairway, a ripple of laughter preceding them. The eldest of the trio walked with a steady gait in the lead as they climbed the stairs, azure sitar under his arm and a stack of papers the other; behind him, Six and Xenami also carried a stack of somethings- judging by the way they flipped through them every couple of moments, Axel would have assumed they were photos.

Demyx sat behind them on the other side of the round table with hardly a clatter as he sat down his beloved instrument to the glass, hailing the redhead and his beloved with greetings; as Axel looked up to the other two his nose nearly collided with a photograph held directly in front of his face by Six.

"Have you no shame, Axel?"

He recognized the setting of the photo as that of Castle Oblivion's Common room, the floor space littered about with playing cards, buckets of Nomura Fried Chicken, and cans of Squash Cola and Sandsea Light among various other things. The subject of the photograph was himself, two years younger, sprawled eagle spread in the middle of the floor with a chocolate-glazed donut about halfway to his mouth (a bite was missing from it), passed out drunk. The younger Axel was cloakless, his black tee-shirt reading in bold white calligraphy 'Don't Annoy the Anger Management Class Dropout.' He couldn't blame Xayra for laughing, for he himself was, especially when his eyes scanned over the penned in caption 'Axel, the new Pink Kitty.' He would recognize Marluxia's hot pink calligraphy anywhere.

"What is this '_Pink Kitty'_?" the youngest asked, tapping the title with the tip of his long obsidian talon.

"Oh, that's Marluxia's porn star name," Demyx chimed in from behind, the twanging of the strings of his sitar accompanying his cheerful voice.

"Say what?"

"Ah, I remember that," Axel began reminiscently, "that night Larxene decided to give us those names… I was Sheneneh."

Their laughter tripled in vociferousness as Six rolled his dark eyes, handing the stack of pictures off to Xenami who had taken up residence in Xayra's lap before stalking off to the other side of the table next to Demyx and his papers.

"Is there any particular reason why you're here?" Xayra inquired analytically of her new affliction.

Xenami didn't even bother to raise her sapphire optics away from the photos she was rapidly flipping through. "This is my seat, wench," she alleged in a dulcet tone, just the way her 'twin's voice used to sound.

"Says who?"

"Says your mother last night."

The elder female gave her a wry look. "I always knew you had a thing for my mother, Xenami." The blonde replied to her remark with nothing more than a shrug and a cheeky grin.

"Xena-chan, I thought you said you were with Six's mother last night," Demyx disputed, to which Xenami sneered at him in slight annoyance.

"I don't tap short women."

Six looked highly affronted at this remark. "Hey, watch it. Kaa-san is **not **short- she is **petite**," he warned, pointing a claw at the blonde.

"And I assume you're just height deficient, ne?" Xenami teased in a sugary sweet voice.

Axel could see the demon struggling to find a way to respond to this razz, as he was biting his lip across the table. Finally he gave up with a defeated sigh and a "That is not funny, Xenami," in a whine.

"Soooo…" the redhead began, breaking up this awkward moment. "All this talk of Xenami being a mother-screwing lesbian is making me hungry, you know?"

Next to him Xayra made an audible tsking sound as the blonde on her lap giggled. "Axel, you are a pervert."

He gave her a disbelieving look. "What? I haven't had breakfast today!" _Say what? C'mon, Xayra, you should know this by now, Miss Let's Distract Axel from Having Breakfast with My Oh So Sexy Powers._

Xayra smirked knowingly at him, her silvery eyes conveying countless cryptic messages as he gazed longingly into them; Axel knew that look all too well…

"_Oh, yeah, sure Axel, you__ are so right," she had said sarcastically, facing Axel from the opposite slope of the window sill over looking Twilight's View._

_Axel smirked. "Damn strait," he replied, running his fingers through his titian hair._

_Xayra grinned at him mysteriously, tilting her head slightly to the side. "Mmmhmm"…_

"So, umm, is that your way of saying you haven't gotten laid in the past month?" Xenami asked interestedly, snapping Axel's attention back to the current situation.

"What? Where'd you get that from?"

"Just answer the question, yo."

Axel folded his arms defiantly across his chest. "That's none of your business, now is it?"

"Well, you're just saying that only because you're just about as cherry as Demyx, am I right?"

"Hey, who says I'm a virgin?" Demyx quipped with a hint of frustration in his voice; as Xenami opened her mouth to reply, he cut her off with a "No, Xenami, you were not with my mother last night, so don't even go there."

_Ouch, Demyx._

"Yo, didn't I just say I was with Xayra's mother? I don't do threesomes, man," Xenami retorted, quickly recovering from Demyx's harsh rebuttal; she sighed before amending herself. "… Or at least, I'd need to be paid more munny… Anyway, Demyx," she leaned complacently across Xayra to place her elbow upon the table top, "are you a virgin?"

Axel and Xayra exchanged quick glances of amusement and slight annoyance, he sympathised with her over having to play the seat of the mischievous witch; behind them Demyx let out a groan of exasperation, for the blonde would not let him concentrate upon his sheet music.

"So, Xena-_chan_," Axel began, using the honorifics that he normally avoided, "is it safe to assume this is your method of coming out of the closet?" he asked, deciding to save Demyx. The witch gave him a jocose smile, before flipping her long blonde hair back into Xayra's face.

"Why, of course, Axel-_san_," she said sarcastically.

"Okay, baka, get off. I do not want to get raped," Xayra said with an air of finality, trying to push her away; the blonde, however, was not moving.

"I'd do you for a munny, Xayra-chan," Xenami replied, stroking Xayra's arm; the brunette looked haughty at this comment.

"I would never sell my body for a munny," she said self-importantly, and expression of great dignity upon her fair visage, but at a look from the others, she yielded. "Okay, maybe two munny."

A sharp tapping upon the glass alerted them to Six who had set two small coins of aurum and navy upon the table inches away; Axel glared at him.

"Around what time can I expect you at my room tonight, Ray-chan?" He gave Axel a sly look in return to the scowl fixed upon him.

_Back off, kobito_ Axel probed with his mind, knowing the demon could hear him.

_Oh, you wish._

The redhead rolled his eyes before standing up, stretching his lengthy legs in relief.

"And where do you think you're going, twenty-one?" Xenami demanded with the air of a parent watching her child sneak out of the house.

"Food. Eat. Yum."

He made to stalk off in the direction of the castle kitchen, though as he started upon his way, a sudden pawing at his derrière made him bristle with vexation.

"What the **fuck**?" Axel half growled- his ass was personal territory, and the redhead did not appreciate unwelcome groping; the current bane of his nonexistence giggled in her irksome manner, though he could near sense the awed expressions upon the countenances of the other three.

"That… was **so** gangsta!" Demyx said admiringly, his sitar sounds having desisted. "You just attempted the impossible and lived! My hero!" He laughed and clapped his hands.

"I'm sorry, Demyx," Axel began in a stoic tone, "BUT SHE'S NOT LIVING MUCH LONGER!" He made to lunge at the witch with his fingers outstretched in throttling manner, though he was unexpectedly impeded by the barrier that had materialised out of thin air, resulting in the loud smack that echoed through the vicinity as he collided with it.

"LET ME AT HER, XAYRA!" he growled, put off that she would side with the ass-groper than with him; inside the force field, Xayra looked slightly perturbed, though fed up with the one trying to seek refuge inside the folds of her cloak. She sighed, giving Axel a tolerant look as he clawed at the glass-like substance that separated them, provoking halcyon ripples across its surface from where he touched it.

"Why won't you let me kill her?" the titan haired Nobody whined, upset, though having calmed down.

"Because that would be bad, and I am not helping you get in trouble while the Superior is away," she scolded, explaining in simple terms; Xenami added something in an unintelligible tone, to which the brunette balked, "I will put you out and let him eat you if you keep up with that attitude." She returned her attentions to Axel as she pointed in the direction of the kitchens. "You said you were hungry. Go eat."

Axel pouted, crossing his arms defiantly before edging towards his destination; he had migrated about five yards before a hushed voice fell upon his ears.

"Would it necessarily be _bad_ if you let him eat her?"

The fire lord smirked knowingly to himself before continuing upon his way.

For nearly five years he had followed this diurnal route, as the castle's kitchen was where every one of its inhabitants had to report if they sought nutrition. Marble and porcelain sparkled here in germicidal brilliance, along with the countless pots and pans that hung from the walls nearly two hundred feet high. Cabinets lined the northern wall, hyaline windows to view the infinite amounts of glassware and dishes that the various members of the Organization utilised daily. Volant islands dotted the room to serve as extra countertops in addition to the ones that rimmed the room; an oven and range at every seven yards, a stainless steel sink in between.

Occupying the majority of the lower western wall was the incredible behemoth of a refrigerator with transparent doors, revealing cuisine of every type imaginable within. Its mere size was also astounding, having been built in proportion to the rest of the kitchen. Its inner regions were divided into sections; a generous portion devoted to a sector labeled 'Breakfast' or just 'Asa' for short. Twenty-two tiers loomed above him and five feet across, currently occupied by trays of the morning's nigiri. Rice dishes were what were normally prepared for morning meals, lunch meals, and dinner meals, regardless of the miraculous amounts of other foods that could be prepared. The main reason for this was simple- rice was cheap and relatively simple to prepare, as suggested by the massive store room adjacent to the room he was currently in, and by the industrial sized rice cooker so large it was deemed worthy of its own chamber.

Now, the rice cooker was a wonder onto itself. It could be set to cook its contents at various speeds, efficiently preparing rice throughout the day; it also had a mechanism for dishing out rice into the blue bowls that it was stocked with every morning, and could prepare the rice in numerous other fashions according to its settings. In all the time that it had been owned by the Organisation, it had never broken, never undercooked the rice, and never ceased to amaze those which it served- the device had been christened 'Sexy' for its prowess.

Ignoring the other miracles of the kitchen, Axel fetched one of the azure bowls from the lower regions of the cabinets and made his way to the refrigerator, where he worked open the Asa door to the nigiri; the rice balls fit themselves comfortably inside the bowl next to a small bottle of shoyu. Closing the refrigerator behind him with a sealing snap, he returned to the dining room via a short hallway.

Upon his returning, he noticed that Xenami had migrated off of Xayra's lap to the opposite side of the table, leaving him free to reoccupy his seat adjacent to his mistress; after he had removed his gloves, he offered the brunette one of his nigiri in a gesture of fealty, the rice pleasantly cool against his bare upturned palm. Xayra gave him a small smile as she accepted the rice ball, holding it delicately between her fingertips before taking a bite.

_Kami-sama, I am so whipped… Not that that's a bad thing, ne?_

He watched her for a moment before helping himself to the remaining rice balls, dripping shoyu from the bottle onto one of them as he held it in his hand; it was delicious as usual, the briny taste of the nori coupling with the tang of the shoyu as it rested upon his tongue… the other rice balls didn't stand a chance against the all consuming entity that was Axel.

"I'm bored as hell," Six groaned as Axel was finishing off his fourth nigiri, ruffling the back of his sable hair so it stuck up in contrast to the long bangs that fluttered as he blew on them. "We need something to do, like, now…" Demyx made a soft mewling sound in assent as Xenami raised her head from her arms, nodding.

Xayra snickered in a spiteful manner as she rose from the table, extracting herself from the arm Axel had placed about her waist and stretching casually with her arms above her head. "Sucks to be you, Tepie-chan- I am ditching."

"No way." Six looked to be in denial as the two blondes added their cries of "I wanna go!"

"Yes way," Xayra replied matter-of-factly. "Do not worry; I will be back… eventually… Axel?" She hooked her first finger in a beckoning gesture before turning upon her heel towards the south corridor; Axel stood grabbing his last nigiri with an accompanying wave of his other hand- he caught up to the brunette easily just as she was entering the corridor.

"I thought you said you weren't helping me get in trouble," he said slyly, making to bite into his nigiri- Xayra plucked it swiftly from his hand as a dark portal materialised before them.

"And I am not." She winked before stepping into the swirling mass. "You are helping me."


	15. Chapter 15: Tocsin

Okay, now before you say anything, I know it's been four months, seven days. I'm sorry, honestly. But I did stick to my deadline - tonight's August 6th, 2007, it's 23.24, within deadline. Here you go. Fluff and sexiness.

* * *

Chapter Fifteen: Tocsin 

He followed Xayra through the darkness, replacing his long gloves to his hands as obscure forms flowed around them; not too far ahead she walked with a sauntering sway of her hips, delicate fingers plucking grains of rice from the confiscated nigiri- she ate them individually from the tips of her fingertips, the envy of Axel who longed for his stolen rice ball. Quickening his pace, he approached her from behind, placing his hands gently upon her shoulders as he peered at his sticky prize.

"Can I expect to get that back?" Axel inquired hopefully, ignoring the lesser Nobody that zipped past their forms. It seemed she'd oblige him- Xayra paused momentarily to shift the mound between her bare fingertips; she contemplated it for a few seconds before continuing on with her nitpicking.

"No."

The redhead darted in front of her, tenacious as ever. "Onegai?"

She sidestepped him without a second glance.

"Iya."

"Aww, come on Xayra!" he groaned impatiently before his expression became that of devious intent – without warning he leaped toward her with all the fluidity of a shadow, his nimble hand reaching out to grab the rice ball – he missed by an almost impossible margin, Xayra snatching it up and over her head.

"Stop," she seethed through gritted teeth, furrowing her brow; all the while, Axel leaned forward over her, slipping the nigiri from her fingers with utmost ease.

"You forget I'm taller than you," he teased with a smirk upon seeing her shocked expression – the crease between her sculpted eyebrows deepened as she glowered up at him, pursing her lips. Axel suppressed a giggle.

"You are so cute when you do that," he said, bending to place a quick kiss upon her pout; he skittered away with a mad cackle, taking a large bite from his nigiri. The redhead chewed happily in silence slowing his pace as she caught up with him, a gentle touch upon his elbow as she extended her hand out in front of her body – a second portal materialised before them, through which she steered him towards the near blinding light.

The narrowly spaced buildings of Twilight Town loomed overhead, casting lengthy shadows between the strips of vespertine rays that filtered through; a certain stillness permeated the air as rose-lined clouds drifted lazily across the heavens. Finishing off his nigiri, Axel paused to survey his surroundings with a practiced eye –he breathed a sigh of relief, the alley being deserted. Darkness evanesced into thin air as Xayra joined him at his side, her touch leaving his arm as she wandered towards the sunnier end of the walk, her shadow dancing against the backdrop wall.

Axel started off after her after having paused to enjoy a few moments of relishing the fresh air – the autumn breeze was crisp and warm, the scent of an apple pie tickling his nose after drifting not too far from its source; Xayra had to tell him off at least twice for attempting to filch said pastry from the window sill upon which it had been set to cool, though her gaze had been as hungry as his as she escorted him from the vicinity.

Sunset bled swiftly into shadow as they stood before one of the cobbled entrances to Twilight Town's subterranean tunnel system, its labyrinthine ways webbing beneath the entire city and beyond. Axel had passed through these caverns many times without incident, although the dusky lighting and swift shades never failed to raise the fine hairs upon the back of his neck, an eerie reminder that Twilight Town did indeed harbour its own sinister secrets for those willing to look. With little preamble he followed her lead into the depths, intricate pathways lit every few metres by small, glowing lanterns like well formed crystalline tears. As brought into clarity by the effulgence, there were few spots along the winding shaft walls that graffitists hadn't yet defiled, for even the ceiling had its fair share of 'artwork' in the form of various murals and countless taggings. Axel paused, having espied a tiny empty space beneath one of the beacons; rummaging through the depths of his cloak pockets, he produced a silver inked brush pen before proceeding to add his own work to that of the spray paint collage.

"A... ku… se… ru…" he murmured softly, his tongue poking out slightly from the corner of his mouth while he penned each katakana into the cramped opening, a quiet rasping sound accompanying the quiescent din as the brush smoothed against weathered cobbles. "Dekimashita!"

"Congratulations, you have officially tagged Twilight Town," Xayra teased from behind as he stowed away his pen back to its original holdings with a snap. Axel smirked proudly as he ran his fingers through vermillion hair.

"Damn strait, yo," he beamed as he admired his 'work'; he heard Xayra giggle, causing the fire lord to shoot an annoyed glance over his shoulder. "Nanda?"

Xayra covered her mouth shyly with her fingers as she averted her eyes mischievously. "Nothing, nothing…" she assured softly before placing a gloved hand lightly upon his arm. "I want to show you something," she replied invitingly before pulling him onwards, deeper into the caverns. The ceiling dipped low in some places, Axel's sanguine locks tracing across the plafond with a delicate touch; water trickled down through pipes that vined down from the city streets above, the gentle streams carving their mark into the stone before collecting into an ever-deepening canal that followed the same path as that they traversed.

"I wonder if it is still here…" the raven haired one said thoughtfully as they wandered into a larger more illuminated chamber, the narrow conduit coursing through towards an opening nearby. "Ah, there it is, look."

Xayra pointed towards a graffito that occupied most of the far wall; on closer inspection, Axel could see that it was a highly stylised portrait of some person he had never seen before. Said person was drawn against the backdrop of an early morning sky, denoted by the dark heavens and the line of ice green on the horizon; the subject lounged against the base of a tree, the leaves and branches of which stretched across the plafond just above. Clothed in jeans artfully torn and a sleeved celadon chemise, legs slightly bent with one hand placed on a thigh, the other braced against the ground. Male or female, Axel could not be sure, for the majority of the person's visage was turned away, save for a fine boned cheek of fair skin. The hair was interesting, cut quite short in the back, though the bangs flowed down to a narrow midriff, obsidian black wisped gently against the wind. Last but not least were the wings upon the subject's back, same colour as the sky as they were folded behind; black feathers littered the ground, one between the nimble fingers nearby. Across the sky was a line of text in runes Axel couldn't read; at the base of the tree was a august and loopy signature in that strange kanji Xayra wrote in.

"' On the pale reflection of dawn…'" she murmured, absentmindedly scratched against a corner of the mural with a fingernail; Axel studied her painting closer for several more moments before returning his gaze to her from the corner of his eye.

"You make me feel bad about myself, you know that," he sighed; Xayra shrugged her slender shoulders noncommittally.

"Gomen," she proffered, causing Axel to roll his eyes before brushing past her in direction of the small cobbled overpass, his fingers surreptitiously streaking their way across her waist before closing around her thin wrist.

"You owe me."

Xayra smirked, playfully resisting his attempt to pull her along. "So you think…"

Axel turned his feline eyes her way in a sidelong stare. "Yeah, so I think. Got a problem?"

Her hair fell into her face as she tilted her head before complying by taking a step impulsively in his direction. "No, not at all," she replied, overtaking him on the bridge with a gentle shove, a quick press of her side to his before continuing on their way.

The canal flowed on a downward sloping, a thin span of cobbled walkway running along the left side of it in the direction of the opening; Axel figured it must flow out into the sea from here, as the water picked up speed the farther they descended. Near the bottom their path leveled out and veered sharply into another corridor; from there the way split off into two – forward deeper into the tunnel systems, and to the right the short walk towards the tunnels' exit. Beside him Xayra picked up her pace, making for the exiting way, though not before peering around the corner with a cautious air. Axel, on the other hand, remembered how she herself had specifically instructed him to **not** do anything to make the humans more aware of their presence than need be, Leoxi's brutal warnings to add emphasis; keeping this in mind, he stopped in his tracks when he saw that Xayra was intending to go out into a highly populated human dwelling in broad daylight **while** still donning her cloak.

"Forgetting something?" he gestured towards their vestments with his free hand as she looked questioningly back to him

Xayra waved her nimble digits through the air as though annoyed with the thought. "Never mind that now," she said throwing a quick glance back over her shoulder. Axel snorted mockingly.

"Oh really?" he began, raising rust coloured brows in disbelief. "Well, **I** remember **you** said-" the pyro reminisced, first pointing to himself then back to the other as he loomed over her; Xayra swiftly grabbed for his hand, capturing it within her own.

"-That what Rixushin does not know will not hurt him," she cut off quickly; the redhead rolled his eyes, a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as she applied pressure to his arms. "Come on," she coaxed, drawing him slowly towards the exit with her. "Just flow with it."

"Oh, alright…"

His eyelids fluttered shut momentarily as he let Xayra steer him along by the arm, intending to hold her responsible for any and all trouble that they could possibly get into during this little rendezvous.

The air possessed the slightly salty tang of the sea as the breeze blew in from the southeast; steps lead down out of the caverns and into the city streets. Large signs both spray painted and official would remind everyone who passed through the area of their current location – Boardwalk District. It was here in this sea faring district where the normally compact alleys of Twilight Town widened into broad avenues, while still keeping that quaint feel and looming scenery. From what Axel knew, Boardwalk District was less densely populated than the larger centre-most districts of the city-town, though that would not diminish the hordes of dirty looks the duo would receive as they meandered through the stands of an open air bazaar, rays of dying light seeping through the tattered tarps onto wares. The titian-haired Nobody ignored their stares with an almost regal disdain, allowing Xayra to pull him through small crowds as they looked at most everything they passed.

She alerted his attention with a triumphant laugh as she tugged upon his arm, pointing in the direction of a large cart teeming over with vermillion fruit; as they approached the covered stall, a bare-chested stocky sort of man with a head wrap regarded them with a fearful interest from behind his cart, crossing his arms in defiance. Axel kept a hard eye upon the fruit merchant as Xayra looked over the mounds of pomegranates; the man visibly started as she gathered up a quarter-dozen in her arms before passing them off to Axel – he slapped his broad rough hand down upon the wooden counter to catch their attentions.

"Hey!" he shouted anxiously before bringing his hand down again. "You have to pay for that!"

The brunette shot a slightly annoyed glare his way as she reached into her cloak. "Okay, hold on, I am getting it."

"Now!" This third impatient bang was accompanied by a metallic rasping – the merchant had unsheathed a short sword, brandishing it in an intimidating manner.

Axel narrowed his eyes in distaste. "You," he pointed with the best of his ability towards the man. "Chill."

Xayra shifted through her pouch seemingly oblivious to the escalation of their confrontation. "How much do I owe?" she asked casually, her pouch jingling with gold coins; the merchant eyed the bulging pouch with a greedy eye, a smug grimace crossing his face.

"One hundred munny apiece."

"Bullshit," said Axel, inclining his gaze towards the sign just above their heads. "Your sign says ten apiece."

"Why you-"

With a small jingle Xayra placed three coins upon the counter with a diminutive slap. "Arigatou, bai bai," she said sweetly before turning coolly upon her heel and starting upon her way, Axel in tow, ignoring the merchant's bellows of 'GET BACK HERE NOBODY!'

Xayra giggled as the two filtered through the crowd towards a flight of stairs not too far from the Chocobo Stables, the landing a pathway to the far less crowded residential section of this district. A short ledge overlooked the bazaar they had just passed through; one could drop down right into the middle of the Stables from this perch, a pair of the friendly yellow birds pecking away nearby. It was almost peaceful here… or as peaceful a place could get being infested with people who could hate a stranger solely for their nonexistence. Axel leaned forward resting his forearms upon the sun baked plaster and stone not too far from where Xayra had seated herself; he handed the pomegranates over, the salt-flecked breeze flitting through his hair.

"I'd have hated to see where that would have gone," he mused, chuckling to himself at his own little joke; he heard Xayra's agreeing 'hmmm' as a flash of silver caught his eye, light reflecting off the small dagger she had produced and was using to cut the single fruit held in her hand.

"It gets so old after a while," she said drawing slits into the rind of the berry. "You put on a cloak like ours and you are immediately supposed to be a murderer, or a…"

"Gangbanger?"

"Precisely, yes, a _gangbanger_." She drove the knife quite forcefully into the center of the fruit, though took no notice as wine-red waters spilled forth to land upon the dirt far below. "Do I look like a gangbanger to you?"

Axel glanced at her from the corner of his eye, cocking a brow. "No… but the knife and that bleeding heart you have there looks _mighty_ suspicious," he teased as her hand knocked playfully into his shoulder.

"Here, share my _bleeding heart_ with me," she said, handing him the larger half of the fruit, the pulp a deep crimson in the light of the setting sun. Axel murmured his thanks before biting into it, the pomegranate being incredibly bitter though with an equally sweet aftertaste; upon swallowing his first bit of seeds and tang, he let the tip of his tongue trail across his bottom lip to lick away the drops of juice that were effectively staining his lips as red as his hair. From the corner of his eye he could see Xayra watching him, her fingers paused in the plucking of the honeycombed arils of her own half of fruit – Axel stood a little straighter, though otherwise did not acknowledge her attentions… this evening had potential, and he could almost feel it.

Contrary to the beliefs of those who had never stuck around long enough to see it, Twilight Town did actually experience nightfall, or as close to nightfall as possible without the sun leaving its twilight demesne; a faint slice of light reached out from over the southern sea as the sun dipped down to the very edges of the horizon, the sky bleeding to navy in it's wake. As the tall lanterns hanging from their posts began to shine ever more radiantly in the oncoming darkness, the citizens of the day returned to their now brightly lit homes to make way for the club goers and older teens with no intention to return before their curfews.

Axel was content to stroll the boulevard with her, their fingers interlaced as they sauntered past the signs that lit up around them. The present darkness coupled with the dwindling population greatly helped them to blend in with the other street goers, and he did not mind the lack of attention.

"It is late," she began conversationally, breaking the silence that had fallen between them; her side pressed gently against his as she said this, making him blink and look away as he answered. "Yeah…"

"We could get something to eat," Xayra offered. Axel wondered if she had glued herself to him, every step he took served as a constant reminder of their closeness; the other side of his mind that was connected to his stomach agreed with her – that half of a pomegranate felt like ages ago. "There is a nice place I know up ahead… Maybe we could…"

"I would like that," the redhead murmured in reply turning his gaze her way. He could see her smile in the half light, sinking ever closer to him.

"So, does this mean you're paying for me?" he asked as they drew nearer to their destination, a somewhat playful mood settling over him as he caught sight of two kimono-clad women nearby.

"What? Of course not," Xayra replied, her eyes widening slightly though she did not look at him. "You are supposed to be a gentleman, Axel."

"Gentleman my ass," Axel half-laughed now that they were within earshot of the two women; the one nearest to him glanced his way, her deep brown eyes spoke of bedrooms while the bare skin of her neck rimmed by white collar told him of carnal fantasies… "Women pay for my company," he continued breathlessly.

He knew it was the wrong thing to say before it left his lips. Her pressure left his side in a forceful instant – he barely caught her by the tips of her fingers, her previously fond gaze a hard glare. "Women?" she spat, blinking furiously, furrowing her brow.

_Oh shit._

"Yes… women…" Axel replied slowly, choosing his words carefully. He tore his eyes away from the other woman to confront the one standing before him – he did not know where his mind had gone for that moment, and now he had Xayra dangerously on the edge of making a scene in the middle of the street… this is what he got for talking through his penis and not through common sense. Well, it hadn't been a lie, really, the few times he had been out with human women, he had charmed them into paying his fares… His mind was racing.

"Babe, listen, it was a joke," he began softly, his voice slightly pleading, "the worlds did not stop turning the day I met you, but who am I with tonight?" Axel reached for her other hand, which she reluctantly relinquished to his grasp after a short struggle, a good sign. His green eyes contemplated her for a moment – she looked up at him with a mistrustful glare, to which he raised his eyebrows slightly. "Are you going to answer me?"

She exhaled through her nose in a small 'hmph', averting her eyes – he knew he had avoided the worst of the storm.

"Please?" he asked, a small smile tugging at his lips; he leaned closer, bringing her hands to his lips. "Please?" he repeated, stepping forward – when she did not move away, he moved to rest his brow upon her shoulder. "Please?" He found her neck with his nose.

"Axel, stop," she whined half-heartedly as he nuzzled her. Axel chuckled. "Never," he breathed, resuming his antics.

"Axel…" came her voice again from above his ear, though punctuated with a small giggle.

"Please?"

"Fine, me," she sighed as he moved to put his arms around her. "Now get inside before you make me mad again, you infuriating womaniser."

"Excellent" Axel purred, kissing her lightly before leading her by the hands into the restaurant.

Never let it be said that Axel would not grovel in the street to win this woman.

His first impression of the place was that of a traditional teahouse turned upscale – they meandered their way through the small crowd to a glass table set for two; the chairs in which they sat were reminiscent of high bar stools, though with a casual elegance to fit the rest of the mood.

"It is nice, is it not?" Xayra said from across the small table, her face softly illuminated from the dim light fixture set in the ceiling above their heads.

"Very," Axel assured her, glancing around eagerly to take in a scene he would call 'tastefully done', down to the tuberose in the tiny vase set between them. "So, what is good here?"

She seemed to think for a moment. "It really depends on what you have a taste for…" Her gaze wandered across the room. "This is one of the few places I know that specialises in Nihonno cuisine…" she added, her voice trailing, "and will willingly serve a Nobody." Her fingers traced the corner of a small menu as she glanced any place but at him. Axel raised his eyebrows.

"Oh really?" he said interestedly, deliberately brushing his fingers against hers as he took the menu. "So that's the reason you brought me here…" he continued leadingly as he looked over the kanji on rice paper. Xayra gave him a pointed look.

"I like the food."

"Right, right…"

Glancing over the menu a final time, he looked up to see a petite woman in kimono meandering between the high tables towards their own table, her hair tied up into a knot at the crown of her head, skin pale against deep red fabric. She stopped before him, sinking into a low bow after handing him a warm towel which he accepted after removing his gloves and stowing them in his pockets; turning on the spot, she bowed to Xayra, though noticeably not so deeply.

"I am Yuriko," she purred as Axel wiped his hands on the towel – she took it from him before handing it over to Xayra. "I hope tonight we will get to know each other a little better, Noubadi-san and Noubadi-san." She gave him a demure smile before reaching for the towel; Xayra looked ready to throw it at her as she relinquished it. Yuriko bowed to him again before sweeping away for to return several moments later with a pad of paper and a pencil. "I can take your requests for dining to our chef and he will prepare something very special for you, if you please." She bowed once again, her pencil poised for writing.

"Gyuudon, extra shichimi, no shiritaki," Axel said, his gaze falling over the menu listing. "Will there be any beni shoga?"

"Always for you, Noubadi-san," Yuriko replied in a slightly sultry voice; from across the table he could hear Xayra make an annoyed sound which she quickly suppressed. Yuriko turned to her. "For you, Noubadi-san?"

"Sake sashimi," Xayra replied, staring down her nose at the woman. "I would also like a bottle of Choya umeshu." She contracted her brow in a small grimace; Axel was surprised the woman didn't flinch as she bowed again.

"I shall take this to the chef, and we shall bring it out to you soon, Noubadi-san." She hurried away between the tables to a far corner of the room where she disappeared behind the door with a shick of shoji. Axel turned to face Xayra who was muttering darkly something that sounded like 'you do that'; he reached for her hand across the table.

"Xayra…"

"You liked that, did you not?" she asked quietly, her silvery eyes glinting in the half light.

"Never," the redhead replied quickly, watching her inhale deeply, her lips pursed.

"I cannot stand her," Xayra breathed, eyes darting towards the corner where Yuriko disappeared. "She actually had the nerve to say something to me about my drinking habits once," she continued, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "'A lady should not drink,' she said. I told her to shove it."

"Ah," Axel nodded. It was hard to imagine Xayra telling anyone to 'shove it,' seeing as how that was something he'd usually say… However, he did know she had a temper to rival his own – she could be quite unpleasant when she got into one of her stints.

"So…" he began, casting his mind around for a topic to distract her until the food came, "you like sashimi?"

"Yes, very much. It is a shame that we cannot prepare it up at the castle." She looked at him. "Why? Do you?"

"Nah, I like my food cooked, thank you. Flame. Broiled. Crispy."

"Ah. Well, gyuudon is braised," she pointed out.

"So what?"

"It is not 'flame broiled', like you say you like it."

Axel smirked. "I'm sure I can fix that. I think about five seconds should do it," he said thoughtfully. Xayra looked stern.

"You would not."

"Are you saying I won't?"

"Axel…"

"I'll burn this bitch down," Axel threatened playfully. "Go ahead. Say I won't."

Xayra bit her lip anxiously. "But…"

"I'm just messin' with you," he assured her softly, rubbing the palm of her hand with his thumb. "But if my food's not good, some shit's going down," he smirked dangerously at the brunette, who was shaking her head across the table. "But really, I haven't been to a Nihonno restaurant like this in forever."

"It is pretty good, really. Like I said, it is one of the few places I know that specialise, I have been to some nice Itariano restaurants in Central-"

"Giovanni's?" Axel asked suddenly. Xayra raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, you know of there?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Roxas and I used to go there to get a slice of pizza from time to time. Excellent meat lovers."

"I have always been partial to the white with the chicken," Xayra mused.

"That's pretty good too. Now, the rigatoni-"

"With the chicken and mushrooms?"

"Heaven knows no other name!" Axel groaned, closing his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. "I have such a craving right now, yo."

Xayra giggled. "Maybe next time we could go – just the two of us."

Axel raised his brow as he open his eyes. "Are you asking me out on another date?" he purred.

Xayra blushed. "Maybe…"

"Then I accept!" He watched as she smiled meekly at him. "Now, I can make a pretty good imitation of the spaghetti and meatballs," he began invitingly, starting up the conversation again.

"No way," Xayra gasped. "You cook?"

"Yeah way. I've known how to cook for years. Got some skills, yo," Axel said self-importantly.

"And all the times you could have made me dinner…" Xayra mock-pouted, placing her free hand on her hip.

"You never asked," the renegade pointed out coolly.

"I never knew…"

"Seems you find out new things everyday."

Xayra blushed, averting her eyes. "Do you think we – I mean you-?"

"One day," Axel nodded, his green eyes sparkling in the light. "Depends on how much I like you by then."

Xayra paused. "…And… how much do you like me now?" she said slowly, though not being able to mask her slightly hopeful tone. Axel thought for a moment.

"I like you a lot," he began slowly, looking at their hands on the table. "A lot a lot. I want something with you. Every moment I've spent in your company has had meaning to me, and I remember every single one of them. So far they've been good memories, and I want to make more." He looked up to her watching him – she was listening hard, an almost happy expression on her face. She smiled.

"I like you too."

Their moment was interrupted by the arrival of three kimono-clad women bearing trays, Yuriko leading with a tray for beverages, the plums bobbing around at the bottom of the amber coloured Choya bottle.

"Finally," Axel breathed as his tray was set before him on the table, steam rising in elusive wisps from each of the three bowls on the tray. The women poured tea and umeshu into separate glasses which were set on the trays as well before sweeping away again after sinking into three identical bows. Axel clasped his hands together for a short moment with a murmur of 'itadakimasu' before reaching for his lacquer bowl full of misoshiru with the left hand while his right went for the hashi set at the very front of the tray; the warm slightly salty flavour as good as ever as he sipped.

"Why don't we ever have miso in the castle?" he asked, seeing as Xayra had also started on her own pasty soup; she shrugged as she lifted pieces of aburaage from the liquid with her hashi.

"Rixushin is far too cheap to buy any good dashi – he figures that as long as we have infinite stores of rice, we will become fat and happy… I do not know too much about the happy. I had offered to him the possibility of instant misoshiru that you can get from the stores, but he tells me that then someone would have to boil water every morning for breakfast. I think he is just lazy," she explained, dipping the individual pieces of wakame and negi into her shoyu before eating them. Axel was mortified.

"So that's why?! Really now, we had much better eats with Xemnas, what with tea and wagashi and snack time…" he trailed off into mournful silence as he finished off his soup and reached for the bowl of sticky white rice. Mutual silence passed between them as they ate, listening to the din of conversation around them, pretty waitresses in kimono moving between each of the high tables. Near the front of the room he laid eyes on the same woman he had seen outside, her plum and ivory coloured kimono shining in the half light as she sipped drink – not once did she glance his way, and he understood, seeing as how she was surrounded by a group of older men in formal wear, digging through their pockets. Part of him wondered exactly what was going on; the other part didn't give a damn about the woman in exchange for present company. He glanced back towards Xayra who was watching him in silence, an unreadable expression playing about her eyes and lips; he gave her a tiny grin as he set down his empty rice bowl and reached for his cup of green tea, draining it before continuing on to his gyuudon. A generous helping of beni shoga rested on top of the delicious smelling beef and onion mixed with rice; Axel lifted a bit with his hashi and tentatively placed it into his mouth, spicy from all the extra shichimi, but good all the same.

"I told you it would be good, did I not?" Xayra teased as she lifted her glass of umeshu to her lips; she tasted it for a moment before tossing the rest back into her mouth. Axel set his hashi upon his tray to pour her another glass.

"It is good, yo," he replied as Xayra murmured a word of thanks – he eyed her plate, the rosy strips of salmon arranged in a rose pattern over a garnish of white daikon. Xayra separated a piece from the rest with her hashi and dipped it in her dish of shoyu before popping it into her mouth – Axel noticed how content she looked while she ate; he hoped she'd look that pleased whenever he cooked for her.

Moments more of silence passed as he finished eating, making the occasional comment as he eyed Xayra's sashimi, which she had almost finished by the time he emptied his bowl of gyuudon. He reached over with his hashi and seized a small piece, dropping into his empty rice bowl.

"I thought you said you did not like sashimi!" Xayra cried in alarm as he tore apart the piece. Axel smirked.

"I lied," he said simply, dipping the salmon into the dish of wasabi, making sure to coat every bit of it in spicy sauce. Xayra eyed him warily.

"You are not going to be able to eat that," she warned as he brought the piece to his mouth. Axel stared at her.

"Watch me."

It was hot, no doubt about that. Very hot. Almost too hot. No, more than hot.

That. Stuff. Burned.

"Tea," Axel gasped, reaching for his cup – he drained it quickly despite it being steaming hot. Xayra sniggered at him from across the table as she dipped her own piece much more modestly into the wasabi.

"That was not that bad," she teased playfully after finishing off the last piece. "Now, from the look on your face, I would have thought otherwise." Axel pouted, his tongue still smarting – Xayra hadn't poured him another cup of tea; to rub it in, she drained her second glass of umeshu with a smirk.

"You do not drink much, do you?" she asked, noticing his still topped glass of alcohol. Axel shook his head.

"I don't have much tolerance for it. You saw what happened the last time," he pointed out. Xayra nodded slightly.

"That was Chardonnay, umeshu is not that strong," she murmured softly, but did not urge him to try any. "When she comes back, I will order some amazake and a few manjuu before we go, if that is okay with you," she said invitingly. Axel nodded, not having had one of the sweet bean cakes in a long while.

It wasn't long before the waitresses came back to collect their trays and took their order for dessert, which was delivered almost immediately. Axel sipped at the milky white drink, which was satisfyingly sweet as it washed over his tongue; his gaze found the other woman again as she stood to leave with a young man in a fedora, looking self-satisfied as he led her from the table. For a short moment her front turned to him, the knot of her plum coloured obi tied below her breasts; Axel narrowed his eyes in distaste – she was a prostitute.

He returned his attention back to Xayra who had taken to stroking his hand upon the table, teasing his bare flesh with her fingernails – he appreciated her touch and missed it during the few moments when they left their chairs and she set munny pieces upon the center of the now bare table. As he turned his back, the white tuberose caught his eye as it sat in its vase.

Those petals would burn forever more as the door shut behind them into the street.

She sank back into his touch as they claimed the dark street once more, wandering their way into a dimly lit park, a large artificial lake in its center reflecting the light of the lamps set around it. The leaves of the willow trees dipped into the water behind the bench which they sat upon, his arms wrapped around her in the darkness. It was quiet, they were alone, and he was yet to be satisfied as he pulled her to him.

He kissed her for several long moments, stroking her cheek as she returned his affection. Upon her lips lingered traces of that sweet wine, though he savoured the taste of her as well. They separated for a moment for air before their lips met again in a whisper light touch. He felt himself grinning.

Not for the first time tonight was he sure of the true reason she had requested his company on her venture from the castle… there were just some things you couldn't have there.

That something was intimacy.

---End Chapter 15---

* * *

Seven pages. Over six thousand words. Get your squee on. I'm going to resubmit this later so I can explain somethings about Japanese eating etiquette (I'm cutting my computer time close, guys, I don't want to get grounded.) But do know that I went off of my knowledge and memory of the whole thing - I haven't been to a traditional Japanese restaurant since the last time I was in Okinawa, which was a few years ago. But gyuudon is yummy, and sashimi is the sex. 

Edit:// Reupload GET!

I've wanted to write this chapter for a long time, really. I know, certain parts of it are a bit cliché, but whatever. Parts of it are really rushed, especially near the end, because I was getting anxious and what not (mother had told me to get off the compuater some two hours before, I kept looking back over my shoulder to make sure she wasn't coming down the stairs) and I wanted to finish before my self-set deadline. But, for the moment, I'm satisfied with it. It's pretty good for four months in the making, and I hope you like it.

The name, Tocsin. A tocsin is a bell - I thought of Twilight Town. More specifically, a tocsin is a bell used to sound an alarm. It's an omen. I'll leave you to think on that.  
Tocsin also is a bit of a pun - it's prounounced the same as toxin. This makes me think of a certain Britney Spears song. You think about that too (no, the song has nothing to do with the story, just the meaning is... yeah).  
The flower.  
I am so damn sneaky.

Okay, so for the most part, the Japanese used in this chapter was pretty self-explanatory, though I'll make a short list of translation  
_onegai_- please  
_iya_- no (informal)  
_dekimashita_- Finished!  
_nanda-_ what?  
_gomen-_ short version of _gomenasai_, I'm sorry

Oh, before I forget. Nihonno. Itariano. These are not typos. Okay, yes, I wanted to to have different types of food and what not, and yes, I have said before that I intend for the characters to speak Japanese (since KH is Japanese made). Thing is, Japan nor any of the other countries of this world don't exist in the KH universe, so I can't call Japanese food Japanese. Since they speak Japanese, I can easily call national names, cultures, and languages by their Japanese name (Japanese language in Japanese is Nihongo. Japanese (the adjective) would be Nihon no. Italy is Japanese is Itaria, making Italian Itaria no (Italian language is Itariago).) make sense? In an up coming chapter, I should be discussing the English language, which will be referred to as Eigo, where as American will be Amerikano. Seriously, don't think too much into this. It's making my head hurt trying to explain.

The food. I tried to use the official names for each piece of food. You can look up gyuudon and sashimi on Wikipedia, I believe, and find a pretty good explaination, all right? The food choices I used here are based off of my personal preferences - I really don't like shiritaki in my gyuudon, where as I do like shichimi (seven flavour chilli pepper, also known as shichimi tougarashi). I was torn between sake (salmon) sashimi and maguro (tuna) sashimi, as I like both, but once again, I think sake sashimi tastes better with wasabi, so, yeah.

Japanese eating etiquette. Very different from the United States. Actually, very different from the etiquette of every other country I've ever been to (besides the Philippines). I know that in a very traditional, formal restaurant, one would kneel on the floor as customary, but as I was going off of one of the rooms in my mother's jazz club for my setting, I changed it. One recieves oshibori when they are first seated to clean their hands. It isn't customary to pour shoyu over rice, soup, or most other dishes - you are provided a dish for shoyu and other dippings. As for drinking, it is uncustomary to pour your own drink, as your dining companions are expected to keep your drink topped at all times (hence why Axel poured Xayra more umeshu, and didn't pour himself any more tea, even though he wanted more). Umeshu and amazake. I prefer Choya umeshu, as it's somewhat sweeter than other brands. Amazake is sweet, usually served with desert or in inns and what not, sometimes served with ground ginger. It's milky and tastes kind of nutty.

Yuriko. I based her off of a Japanese woman I've known for a long while, and she's always come off to me as meretricious. It wasn't until sometime after I started writing that scene that I realised Yuriko is also the name of my current Japanese teacher - she is the most awesome older lady I've ever met, and I swear to Loki, she's like, omnipresent. Seriously, she's absolutely everywhere. Like a few weeks ago, I was at the asian food market and I heard 'Kya-san!'. I was like O.O 'OH MY GAAD YOU NINJA!' Yeah, she's cool.

Review. Now.


	16. Chapter 16: MDMA

Chapter Sixteen: Methylenedioxymethamphetamine

---End Chapter Sixteen---

… Yeah, you're probably there like 'WTF just happened? Where's the chapter?!' Well, as you can see, it's not here, it's just on my MediaMiner account. See, I'm not trying to get banned from the site on account of posting explicit content chapters (seriously, there are some people who go around reporting mature chapters like it's going out of style). Therefore, make sure you go to my account (link is on profile page), and read it! By the way, in noting that since the chapter might be somewhat too mature for this site, reader discretion is advised, because I don't want to be the cause of ruining someone's innocence or all that fluff – but I'd prefer that you read it, because it's really good if I may say so myself, and there's a great deal of stuff that is important to the plot that you'll miss if you don't read!

I was going to write you all a nice long love letter, but seeing as how I could get told off for merely having an 'author's note', I'll refrain from doing so. But really, thanks to everyone who has read up this far: for those of you who liked it, I love you all and I promise I'll keep writing for you! For those who don't like it (which I'm still not sure why you'd be reading this if you didn't…), I hold nothing against you, because half the time I seriously hate this thing more than anyone ever could – hopefully by the end of the fic (got another fifteen/twenty or so chapters left) I'll have won you over! There will be a sequel when it's finished – because of which, I'm thinking about changing the name of this 'portion' of the story and keeping Flames of the Heart the name of the entire thing (both this part and sequel).

Anyways, if you decide to review, which I hope you do, would you mind leaving one on both sites? I don't care if it's the same just copied over, I just would really appreciate it if I had some reviews on MediaMiner also… yeah. Questions, comments, concerns, anything.

Love you all!

Kya


	17. Chapter 17: Please Read!

To new readers who have just stumbled their way here out of the masochistic experience of reading the previous sixteen chapters: Hi! Also, please don't sue me for whatever pain you may have suffered through on your way here.

To old fans drawn back by author alerts/seeing the elusive New Update tag on this story: Haaaaay. Yeah, I know it's been five years. I know. I'm sorry!

Approximately five years ago I embarked on an epic journey that involved moving across the country, finishing high school, starting college, and generally not writing anything. About a year and a half ago, I was going through old stuff on my computer and found my way into my Flames of the Heart folder. Needless to say, I had a few drinks to get myself through it. Seriously, I cannot read that drivel without nearly dying of embarrassment from the fact that 1) I wrote that, and 2) I actually posted that on a public website and people actually read it. Mother of god.

After that unfortunate experience, however, I found myself writing little excerpts from the story whenever I was bored at work, bored at school, or just bored in general. I accumulated a lot of them over time, and eventually realized that I guess I wasn't done with this story after all. Axel and Xayra's romance has continued to play itself out in my mind, changing and growing darker every time I reimagine it – and I've finally found a version that really sticks with me. I was planning on rewriting the story and giving my little snippets some sort of cohesive plot, mine alone to enjoy for the moment and then get drunk over several years into the future (sort of like what I'm going through right now), but dude, I'm getting story followers and favorites even now, five years after I quit. I got my most recent one about a week ago and something inside of me said 'goddammit, just do it, people obviously want to read the shit you come up with!'

So I'm rewriting it. All of it. I scrapped all of my previous published work (the sixteen chapters that are still sitting on this site, help me) and have begun writing it anew, making it my summer's project to hopefully write the story back up to approximately where it currently is in plot, just, you know, infinitely better. Once I've finished this, I'll take down what's currently up and upload the new stuff in its place, and my hopes are that if you're reading this, when the time comes you'll be tempted to take a peek at my new work. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.


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